Spinach Smile

Marcus stood at home plate, baseball bat clenched in sweaty palms. The entire freshman class was watching—well, mostly Chloe was watching. She sat in the bleachers, her purple hair catching the afternoon sun.

"You got this, Marcus!" his best friend Jayden yelled from the dugout.

But Marcus didn't got this. The pitch came in fast, and he swung so hard his helmet twisted sideways. Strike three. The disappointment was worse than his mom's spinach salad—the kind she made him eat because "your brain needs nutrients, honey." Like his brain needed more help failing in front of his crush.

"Dude," Jayden said later at the water fountain, "you were overthinking it. Chloe doesn't care if you can hit."

"Easy for you to say," Marcus muttered, gulping water. "You're not the one who looked like a malfunctioning robot out there."

Then it happened—the sky turned that weird greenish-gray. Thunder rumbled like the school cafeteria when they announced pizza day was canceled.

"Everyone inside NOW!" Coach Miller yelled, gesturing toward the gym as lightning forked across the sky.

The teams scrambled, but Marcus got separated in the chaos. He ended up huddled under the small overhang by the concession stand with—his heart literally stopped—Chloe.

"Is that..." She pointed at his teeth.

MORTIFIED. Marcus realized he still had bright green spinach in his braces from lunch. He wanted to dissolve into the puddle forming at his feet.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "My mom's into brain food."

Chloe laughed, and it wasn't mean-sounding. "No, it's actually kind of iconic. Like, you're not even trying to be cool, and that makes you cool."

They spent the next twenty minutes talking about everything—her purple hair (she did it herself), his baseball struggles (she played soccer), and how both their parents were obsessed with healthy food they hated. The rain drummed on the metal roof, water streaming down like a curtain around them.

When the storm passed, Marcus didn't want the moment to end. But as they walked back to the gym together, Chloe said, "Hey, maybe I can come watch you practice sometime? You know, for moral support."

"Yeah," Marcus smiled, forgetting about the spinach. "I'd like that."

Some strikes really were just opportunities in disguise.