Spinach Smile

Maya's first house party freshman year wasn't going according to plan. The orange solo cup in her hand contained some suspicious fruit punch that was definitely not just fruit punch, and she'd already managed to awkwardly stand in three different corners of the crowded living room.

Then she saw Jordan—the one person she'd been trying to impress since August—laughing with their friend group by the snack table. This was it. Her chance to finally make a move.

Maya headed toward them, grabbing what she thought was a cheese puff from a bowl. She caught Jordan's eye and summoned what she hoped was a cool, confident smile.

"Hey Jordan!" she called out, maybe a little too loudly.

Jordan turned, grinning. "Maya! You made it!"

"Yeah!" She stepped closer, ready to finally have that moment they'd been dancing around all semester. "I've been wanting to—"

"WAIT," Jordan's friend Chelsea suddenly grabbed Maya's arm. "Don't say anything else."

Maya froze. "What?"

"Your teeth," Jordan whispered, eyes wide with what looked genuine horror. "You have... massive spinach..."

Maya's face burned. That wasn't a cheese puff. That was a spinach artichoke dip bite, and now it was decorating her front teeth like green Christmas lights.

Before she could even process this humiliation, Jordan's family dog—a massive golden retriever named Buster—came barreling through the kitchen doorway, knocking into Maya's legs. Her orange punch splashed everywhere. All over her white shirt. All over the floor. Some might have even gotten on Jordan's shoes.

The room went silent.

Then Jordan started laughing. Not mean laughing—like, actually laughing. "Oh my god, Maya, are you okay?"

Maya looked down at her orange-stained shirt, still with spinach in her teeth, surrounded by people she barely knew, and she started laughing too.

"I'm fine," she said through her laughter. "I'm just... never eating again."

"Let me help you clean that up," Jordan said, grabbing paper towels and handing Maya a mirror for her teeth. "And hey—at least now we have a story."

Maya caught her reflection and groaned, but when she looked up, Jordan was still smiling at her. Not the smile of someone judging her. The smile of someone who thought she was funny, even when she was completely embarrassing herself.

"So," Maya said, finally clean. "You want to hang out outside? Away from the food?"

"Absolutely," Jordan said. "And Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you came."

Maya smiled—carefully, this time—and followed Jordan out back, orange stains and all.