Spinach Teeth & Bear Hugs

Maya smoothed her curly hair for the tenth time in the bathroom mirror. First real high school party. First time wearing her favorite beanie hat because humidity made her hair puff up like she'd stuck a fork in an electrical outlet. The hat was her armor, her social survival gear.

"You got this, Maya," she whispered, checking her reflection. "Just act normal. Normal people don't have panic attacks in the bathroom."

She stepped into the crowded kitchen where someone's older brother was dj-ing from a laptop. The bass thumped in her chest. Her crush, Jay, was by the snack table, laughing with his friends. This was it. Her moment.

Maya grabbed a spinach artichoke dip slider. She'd barely taken two bites when her best friend Kalia grabbed her arm.

"OH MY GOD, Maya, you have to come see this," Kalia squealed, dragging her toward the patio.

"Wait, is something in my teeth?" Maya mumbled through her smile, frantically running her tongue over her teeth. Spinach. Of course. The universal enemy of first impressions.

"You're fine, you're fine!" Kalia waved off. "But seriously, someone's mascot head just fell off and..."

They pushed through the sliding doors to the backyard. Under the string lights, someone in a full bear costume – the school mascot, probably from tonight's game – was stumbling around, headless, holding a massive papier-mâché bear head under one arm like a awkward beach ball.

The guy in the suit looked up, sweating through his undershirt. It was Jay.

"Stupid zipper," Jay muttered, wiping his forehead with his free hand. "This thing weighs like, thirty pounds."

Maya's hand flew to her mouth, spinach forgotten. "You're the mascot?"

"Yeah." Jay cracked a smile, flashing teeth that had clearly also experienced the spinach artichoke dip. "You gonna tell everyone? I'm supposed to be, like, mysterious and cool."

Maya burst out laughing. She couldn't help it. The football star, stuck in a bear costume, sweating through his shirt, with dip in his teeth, trying to be cool.

"Your secret's safe with me," she said, reaching out to steady the swaying bear head. "For a price."

"What price?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"Help me figure out if I have spinach in my teeth."

Jay leaned in close, way closer than necessary, and examined her smile with exaggerated concentration. "You're good," he said. "But just so you know... I think your hair looks better without the hat."

Maya pulled off her beanie. Her curls sprang free. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Jay grinned. "Now help me get this bear head back on before the entire football team finds out I'm basically a mascot disaster."