Spinach Smoothie Disaster

Marcus had been running from the conversation for three days, and his best friend Jordan was done letting him dodge it.

"Bro, just DM her already," Jordan said, scrolling through TikTok as they sat on Marcus's bed. "You've been staring at her profile like a literal creep."

Marcus groaned into his pillow. "She's way out of my league. She's probably at that bull riding competition right now, looking all cool and dusty, while I'm here being a massive chicken."

That's when it hit him—the worst idea Marcus had ever had, which was saying something. His brain connected three terrible dots: Chloe loved bull riding, Jordan's sister was a health influencer who made everything into smoothies, and Marcus had zero game.

"I'll bring her a smoothie," Marcus announced, sitting up too fast. "Like, post-competition recovery fuel. It'll show I'm supportive and thoughtful."

Jordan stared at him. "That is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard."

Whatever. Marcus was committed.

Fast forward to the county fair, where Marcus stood wearing his dad's "Dad Fuel" t-shirt, clutching a mason jar filled with what was supposed to be a "recovery green machine"—spinach, banana, protein powder, and honestly, who knew what else. Jordan's sister had "modified" the recipe.

Chloe had just placed third in the junior bull riding division, which was objectively the coolest thing Marcus had ever witnessed. She walked over, dust still on her boots, smile bright enough to power a small city.

"Hey!" she said, actually noticing him. "What's in the jar?"

Marcus's brain went full static. "It's... running fuel? Like, for recovery?"

He handed it over. Chloe took a massive gulp.

The face she made was burned into Marcus's brain forever. It was like she'd bitten into a lemon, then swallowed a sock, then remembered her grandma's funeral.

"Wow," she choked out. "That's... interesting."

"Spinach," Marcus said, because his brain had stopped working entirely. "For muscles."

Chloe laughed, this genuine sound that made Marcus feel both dead and alive simultaneously. "You're weird, but like, in a good way?"

They ended up sitting on the tailgate of her truck, sharing the worst smoothie in existence while she told him about getting thrown off bulls and he admitted he only ran track because his mom made him. The spinach disaster became their inside joke, their origin story.

Sometimes the worst plans are the best ones. Eventually Jordan would say something deeply unhelpful like "I told you so," but for now, Marcus was too busy living through the most embarrassing moment of his life to care. He was definitely still running toward something scary, but maybe that was the whole point.