Spinach Teeth and Backhands

Maya's stomach did full-on cartwheels when Jason slid into the seat beside her in third period. "Hey, you coming to the padel courts after school? Mia and Juan are gonna be there."

Padel. The sport everyone was suddenly obsessed with—basically tennis but shorter and way more chaotic. Maya had zero coordination but she'd literally take a bullet for five minutes of Jason's attention.

"Yeah!" she said, maybe too enthusiastically. "I'll be there."

Big mistake. Huge.

Lunch that day had been spinach and feta stuffed something from the cafeteria line. The spinach was everywhere. Maya rushed to the bathroom mirror to check her teeth—crisis averted, she thought.

Wrong.

Fast forward to 4 PM at the rec center courts. Jason's shirt was off (Maya's brain short-circuited), and they were playing mixed doubles. The sun beat down as Maya missed yet another ball.

"You got this!" Jason called out, grinning.

He ran over for the high-five. Maya's palm met his, and time literally stopped. Then his face did this weird thing—like he was trying not to laugh.

"Uh, Maya..." He pointed at his own teeth.

The spinach. A giant, neon-green chunk was wedged between her front teeth, on full display for everyone.

Mia snorted. Juan looked away, shoulders shaking.

Maya's face burned hotter than the sun. She bolted to the water fountain, practically shoving Jason aside, and scrubbed her teeth with her finger like her life depended on it.

Behind her, Jason's voice: "Wait!"

She kept running, straight into the girls' bathroom, and locked herself in a stall. This was it. Her social life was over. She'd have to move to Antarctica and live with penguins.

"Maya?" Jason's voice outside the stall. "You okay?"

"No!" Her voice cracked humiliatingly. "I'm never leaving this bathroom. Tell my mother I loved her."

Jason laughed. Actually laughed. "Dude, I had spinach in my teeth last week at practice. Coach still calls me Popeye."

Silence.

"Seriously, nobody cares. Well, Juan might make a joke or five, but that's just Juan being—"

"Juan?"

"Exactly. So you coming back out? I was kinda winning."

Maya opened the door.

Jason leaned against the sink, now wearing his shirt, looking unfairly good even in fluorescent bathroom lighting. "Also," he added, "I wanted to ask if you wanted to get boba after this. If you're done hiding from the world."

Maya's palms started sweating again.

"Only if you promise to check my teeth first."

Jason grinned. "Deal."