Spinach in Your Smile

Maya adjusted her bucket hat for the third time, pulling the brim lower over her eyes. The basement party was already giving her sensory overload—Bluetooth speakers thumping bass that vibrated in her chest, the smell of cheap body spray mixed with whatever someone was burning in the kitchen.

"You good?" Chloe elbowed her, nodding toward the snack table. "Riley's over there. Looking like a whole snack, honestly."

Maya's stomach did that lightning-strike thing it always did when Riley was around. Which was ridiculous, because they'd been in the same homeroom since sixth grade and Riley had never once looked at her like she was anything other than the quiet girl who sat by the window.

"I'm not doing it," Maya said, even though she'd been lowkey obsessing over Riley for months. "Remember what happened with Tyler?"

"That's because you had spinach in your teeth. Literally the whole time."

Maya covered her mouth with her hand. The Tyler incident lived rent-free in her head. Freshman year, she'd finally worked up the nerve to flirt with him at Emma's Halloween party, only to discover later from Chloe's sympathetic DM that she'd had a massive piece of spinach stuck to her front tooth the entire conversation.

"This is different," Chloe insisted, already scanning the room like a fox hunting prey. "Riley's not like those immature boys. And you're not gonna have any spinach in your teeth because we just ate pizza rolls."

Across the basement, Riley laughed at something—head thrown back, smile bright and genuine. Her fitted cap sat backward on her curls, and she was leaning against the wall like she owned the whole vibe.

Some sophomore guy—who definitely gave off major bull energy—was already crowding her space. Riley looked uncomfortable but polite, nodding along to whatever he was saying.

"Okay, that's it." Chloe grabbed Maya's wrist. "We're doing a tactical intervention."

"Wait, what—"

"Be right back!" Chloe called, dragging Maya across the room before she could properly panic.

Chloe swooped in with the social grace of someone who'd never experienced a single awkward moment in her life. "Riley! Hey! This sophomore keeps trying to explain crypto to me, please save me."

Riley's relief was visible. "Oh my god, yes. Rescue mission accepted."

The guy looked confused but took the hint, drifting away toward the soda table.

"I'm Maya," she managed, her voice doing that weird thing where it sounded kind of breathless and high.

Riley's smile shifted—softened, became something real. "I know. We have English together. You sit behind me and draw really cool stuff in your notebook."

Maya's face burned. "You've seen my doodles?"

"They're actually good," Riley said. "Like, genuinely. I wanted to ask you about them but I didn't know how to not be weird about it."

Chloe mouthed 'I TOLD YOU' and made herself scarce with a wink that was absolutely not subtle.

"So," Riley said, and she looked almost nervous now, which was insane because Riley was confident and cool and had never been nervous a day in her life. "I was gonna head to the convenience store for snacks. You wanna come?"

Maya adjusted her hat again, then thought whatever and just pulled it off entirely. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

They were almost out the door when Riley paused, looking back with this tiny amused smile. "You've got a little something in your teeth, by the way."

Maya froze. "Is it spinach? Please tell me it's not spinach again."

Riley laughed, and it sounded different than before—warmer, like she was actually letting Maya in on something private. "No, you're good. Just messing with you. Come on, let's go."