Spinach Teeth & Bear Fears

Maya's phone buzzed with the group chat notification: *Camping trip this weekend, bring ur chill vibes only.* She stared at the screen, heart doing that stupid flutter thing it always did when Liam's name appeared in the thread.

This was it. Her chance to finally be part of the Core Friend Group instead of the girl who sat at the adjacent lunch table.

Saturday arrived in a blaze of overthinking. Maya packed three outfits (too much? too little?), her lucky sketchbook, and three family-sized bags of spinach because her mom was convinced she'd get scurvy without vegetables. *Cringe.*

"Who brought the dog?" Chloe demanded when they met at the trailhead. A golden retriever puppy sat next to Liam, looking unfairly perfect even with slobber dripping from its jowls.

"This is Bear," Liam said, scratching behind its ears. "My sister couldn't find a sitter, and I'm basically obsessed with him."

*BEAR.* The literal dog's name was Bear. Maya's inner monologue died.

The first hour was fine — she managed to walk without tripping, laughed at the right times, and even helped set up the tent without looking completely useless. Then came dinner time. Chloe brought fancy pasta. Jackson had actual s'mores supplies. Maya... had spinach.

"I can make a salad?" she offered weakly, holding up a bag like it was a weapon.

"That's actually so valid," Liam said, and Maya felt herself falling harder.

They sat around the campfire, roasting marshmallows. Maya ate her spinach salad (raw, because she'd forgotten a fork and refused to ask). It was going okay. She was being normal. She was thriving.

Then Liam said, "Hey Maya, you have a little something—" and gestured to his front tooth.

She excused herself to the "bathroom" (a bush ten feet away) and discovered that a massive, bright green piece of spinach had been camped out in her teeth for god knows how long. Every joke, every moment, every interaction — all witnessed by the most emerald piece of vegetation known to humankind.

She wanted to dissolve into the earth. Instead she heard rustling.

A massive black bear emerged from the trees, sniffing the air.

"BEAR!" she screamed, because apparently that was the only word her brain could access.

The real bear — the dog — started barking wildly. Everyone scrambled. Maya, still clutching her spinach bag, grabbed the closest thing she could find: a bag of marshmallows, and hurled them with everything she had. The bear stopped, confused by the raining sugary clouds, then lumbered off.

No one spoke for a full minute.

"Did you just..." Liam started, then burst out laughing. "Did you just fight off a bear with marshmallows?"

Maya looked down. Her hand was covered in sticky white fluff. Her teeth still had spinach. Her life was actually a nightmare.

"I'm gonna go home now," she said, but everyone was already cracking up.

"No way," Chloe said, actually smiling. "That was legendary. You're officially in."

"Even with the spinach?" Maya asked.

"ESPECIALLY with the spinach," Liam said. "It adds character."

Bear (the dog) licked her hand, and Maya finally exhaled. Maybe being perfect wasn't the point. Maybe the Core Friend Group wasn't about being cool — it was about having absolutely zero dignity together.

Still though. She made sure to check her teeth every five minutes after that.