Spinach in Your Teeth

Jordan slumped against the bathroom stall door, replaying the moment in her head like a broken TikTok loop. The cafeteria, her crush Marcos, the spinach leaf wedged between her front teeth like a tiny green flag of humiliation. And Zoe—her supposed best friend—had let her walk around like that for TWENTY MINUTES.

"You should've told me," Jordan whispered at her reflection, attacking her teeth with her fingernail.

"I thought you knew!" Zoe's voice came from outside the stall. "I didn't want to make it weird in front of Marcos!"

Jordan threw the stall door open. "Making it weird would've been better than letting me look like I just ate a salad with my face!"

Zoe had the decency to look at the floor. "I'm sorry. I panicked. Marcos was finally talking to you and I didn't want to kill the vibe."

"The vibe? THE VIBE IS DEAD, ZOE." Jordan grabbed her bag. "He probably thinks I'm a mutant who photosynthesizes through my teeth."

She started toward the exit but stopped at the vending machine. Her grandma's vitamin gummies stared back from the little window—ironic, considering Grandma swore they'd give her "healthy skin and better luck." Some luck.

"Jordan, wait."

"No. You know what? This is classic. This is SO us." Jordan turned back. "Remember when I had to wear that bear mascot costume for homecoming, and you 'forgot' to tell me the head piece wasn't secured? Remember when I did that whole bear dance in front of the whole school and the head fell off?"

Zoe's eyes widened. "I told you I was sorry about that!"

"DID YOU though?" Jordan stepped closer. "Or did you just like that for once, the attention wasn't on you?"

The silence stretched between them like a tightrope. Jordan's chest felt weird—half anger, half something else she couldn't name.

"I didn't mean to," Zoe said finally. "I just... sometimes you're so perfect. The grades, the style, now Marcos noticing you... and I'm just... I'm just your friend who messes everything up."

Jordan's anger deflated. Zoe wasn't being malicious. She was being... human. And jealous. And honestly, wasn't Jordan jealous sometimes too?

"You don't have to compete with me," Jordan said softly. "We're not in a bracket. We're just... us."

Zoe wiped her eyes. "So you're not gonna ditch me?"

"Nah." Jordan grinned, spinning back to the vending machine. "But you're buying me vitamin water. And if I ever have spinach in my teeth again, you're telling me immediately. No matter who's watching."

"Deal," Zoe said, and for the first time all day, Jordan believed their friendship might actually survive high school. Maybe Marcos would too, but that was tomorrow's problem. Today, she'd settle for not being the girl with spinach teeth who also lost her best friend in the same afternoon.