Spinach in the Social Pyramid

Maya's iphone buzzed on the cafeteria table, right next to her untouched lunch. She'd been staring at the greenish spinach stuck in her braces for twenty minutes—ever since that freshman pointed and whispered to her friends in the bathroom line.

"You're still thinking about it?" Chloe slid into the seat across from her, opening her own phone. "Nobody cares, Maya. Literally nobody."

Easy for Chloe to say. She floated at the top of the school's social pyramid effortlessly—varsity soccer, perfect hair, somehow always saying the right thing in class discussions. Maya was still figuring out which base camp she even belonged to.

The cafeteria lights flickered. Once. Twice.

"Did you see Jordan's story?" Chloe asked, spinning her phone around. "He posted that pic from Friday's game."

Maya's heart did that stupid flutter thing. Jordan, the junior with the motorcycle and the crooked smile who'd somehow ended up in her AP Bio class this semester. She'd been lowkey crushing on him since September, which felt pathetic because he probably didn't even know her name.

She leaned in to see the photo—Jordan mid-celebration, arm raised like he'd just won the championship—

CRACK.

Lightning struck so close the whole cafeteria went silent for a heartbeat. Then:

"YOOOOO!" somebody screamed, and suddenly everyone was scrambling toward the windows.

Maya stood up too quickly. Her tray tipped. Spinach everywhere.

And of course Jordan was right there.

"Whoa," he said, crouching down. "You okay?"

Maya wanted to dissolve. Literally evaporate. But then he was helping her gather her scattered lunch, and somehow they were both kneeling there surrounded by dropped forks and spilled spinach, and he was laughing—not at her, with her—and his eyes were that golden-brown color she'd noticed from across the classroom but had never seen this close up.

"That was insane, right?" He shook his head. "Almost hit the gym."

"Yeah," she managed. Her hands were shaking. "Pretty crazy."

He stood up, offered her a hand to help her up. "I'm Jordan, by the way."

"Maya."

"Nice braces." He grinned. "Spinach suits you."

He winked. Then he was gone, heading back to his table.

Chloe appeared beside her, eyes wide. "Did that just happen?"

Maya touched her braces. Still some spinach in there.

She smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, it did."