Spinach Smile

Maya's summer was NOT supposed to go like this.

Standing at the edge of the padel court, she could feel her palms sweating through the grip of her borrowed racquet. The July heat was absolutely punishing, making her vintage Nike bandana feel more like a sauna than a fashion statement. Across the net, Cameron was stretching, looking annoyingly perfect in his faded tournament t-shirt.

And then, in the middle of a rally, her tongue brushed against her front teeth.

Spinach. A massive, glaring piece of spinach, definitely visible from space, definitely wedged between her two front teeth like some kind of green emergency flare.

"Time out!" she practically shouted, bolting toward her gym bag. She could feel Cameron's eyes on her back as she fumbled for her iphone, desperately checking her reflection. No, no, NO. There it was - the entire reason she would never be cool, ever, in any universe.

The water fountain was her only hope. She rinsed and swished and spit like her life depended on it, her face burning so hot she felt like a human radiator. Behind her, footsteps approached.

"Hey, you good?"

Maya turned around slowly. Cameron was standing there, backwards hat on, looking genuinely concerned. The same boy she'd been low-key crushing on all semester was witnessing her personal hygiene crisis.

"Um, just needed some water," she managed, her voice cracking slightly.

He nodded, like this was the most normal thing in the world. "Yeah, it's brutal out here. Hey, your form is actually fire though."

Wait. What?

"My... form?"

"Yeah, like your backhand." He leaned against the wall, totally casual. "I've been watching you play during gym class. You've got serious game."

The blood rushed to her cheeks for a completely different reason now. "You've been watching me?"

"I mean, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking suddenly shy. "I was gonna talk to you, but you always seemed so focused. Intimidating, honestly."

Maya stared at him. Cameron Wright. Intimidating. HER.

"Dude, I was just nervous," she laughed, and the tension between them dissolved like sugar in water.

"Well," he said, pushing off the wall, "we've got ten minutes before the next round. Want to hit a few? Just us?"

Maya smiled, ignoring the tiny voice in her head reminding her to check her teeth again. "Bet."

Sometimes, she thought later, the most embarrassing moments weren't endings at all. They were just beginnings in disguise.