Spinach Smile

The smoothie was nuclear. I'm talking radioactive green, like something that would glow in a blacklight.

"Drink up, honey," Mom said, all bright and terrifying. "It's got spinach, kale, spirulina... your skin is going to look amazing."

My hair was already slicked back with enough gel to waterproof a duck. Today was THE day. Tyler's pool party. The entire incoming sophomore class would be there, and I had three goals: don't belly flop, don't say something weird, and somehow—miraculously—get Tyler to notice me as something other than 'that quiet girl from bio.'

I chugged the smoothie. It tasted like lawn clippings and disappointment.

My iPhone buzzed in my pocket. Group chat blowing up already.

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On my way!* — Jenna

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TYLER IS SHIRTLESS IN HIS SNAP* — Chloe

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I'm literally going to throw up* — me (but deleted, obviously)

Grandma stopped me at the door. She was holding out her hand, palm open, like she was dispensing wisdom or drugs. It was drugs. Well, vitamins.

"Vitamin D, honey. For your bones." She pressed two giant horse pills into my hand. "You're growing so fast, and if you don't take care of your skeleton now, you'll be a hunchbacked old lady at forty." She paused. "Also, you've got something in your teeth."

I froze.

"No, like, right in the front. Green. Lots of it."

I sprinted to the bathroom. My smile looked like I'd been chewing on a small forest. Spinach. Embedded. Everywhere. I brushed. I flossed. I used a pick. I considered burning my mouth with acid.

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the party, teeth green-free, heart hammering.

Tyler was by the pool. Actual Tyler, looking golden and effortless and somehow dry despite everyone else being wet.

"Hey!" he said, as I walked up. "You made it."

"Yeah, um, just..." I gestured vaguely at the pool. "About to..."

"Your teeth," he said.

"What?"

"They're... green?"

I died. I actually died and my ghost was standing there in a swimsuit.

"Oh!" He grinned. "I meant, did you use those whitening strips? Because your teeth look really bright, like, glowing almost. In the sun. It's cool."

I realized he was squinting against the light. The sun hitting my wet hair. The reflection off the water.

"Oh my god, no, that's—"

"Hey, want to jump in with me?" He was already backing up to the edge. "Count of three?"

"One—"

I stood there, chlorine smell rising up around me, phone in my pocket forgotten, green smoothie somewhere in my past, and for the first time all summer, I didn't overthink it. I didn't calculate the splash radius or plan my entrance angle or worry about my hair or my teeth or anything.

I jumped.

Water rushed everywhere, blinding and perfect. When I surfaced, sputtering, Tyler was laughing. Not mean laughing. Real laughing.

"Nice form," he said. "You're, like, surprisingly athletic."

"I drank a lot of vitamins," I said, and then we were both laughing, treading water in the deep end, and somewhere in the house, my phone kept buzzing with notifications that didn't matter at all.

"Do that again," he said. "I'll race you to the other side."

I didn't win. But honestly, I kind of had already.