Spinach Teeth & Frizzy Hair Don't Care

Maya's curls had been straightened within an inch of their life, but the humidity at the country club had other plans. By 2 PM, her hair was already doing that thing where it puffed out like she'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket.

"You good, Maya?" Liam asked, grinning. He was cute. Like, distractingly cute. The kind of cute that made her forget basic motor functions.

"Yeah, totally," she lied. "Just vibing."

She was NOT vibing. She was at her first padel lesson with the popular crowd, lowkey terrified she'd embarrass herself. Padel was like tennis but cooler—or at least that's what everyone said. Maya had never played.

Her parents' Golden Retriever, Buster, was back at home, probably destroying something expensive. She'd been dog-sitting since her parents were away, and honestly? Buster was easier to deal with than this.

"Your form's actually sick," Liam said after she managed to return a ball without tripping.

She smiled, feeling a flutter in her chest. Then she caught her reflection in the club's floor-to-ceiling windows. Green. Dark green. Stuck right between her front teeth.

Spinach. From the salad she'd crushed five minutes ago because she'd been nervous-hungry.

Cringe level: maximum.

Maya's face burned. She considered faking an injury. Maybe falling dramatically. Excusing herself to "take a call" and never returning.

Instead, Liam started laughing. Not mean laughing—like, actual laughing. "Dude, I've been there. Last week? Had pasta sauce on my face through an entire conversation with Natalie. Thought she was looking at me all intense. She was just staring at the marinara."

Other kids nodded. "Mine's worse," said Chloe. "Last year at formal, I walked around with my dress tucked into my underwear for like twenty minutes. TWENTY. MINUTES."

They were all laughing now. Including Maya.

Something shifted. Her frizzy hair didn't matter. The spinach didn't matter.

"Wanna play doubles?" Liam asked. "You and me versus Chloe and Javier?"

"Bet," Maya said, grinning with her spinach-free smile.

Later that night, Buster greeted her with his usual chaotic enthusiasm, knocking over her backpack. Maya scratched behind his ears and caught her reflection in the mirror. Hair wild. No makeup. A grass stain on her jeans.

She looked happy.

Maybe fitting in wasn't about changing everything. Maybe it was about finding people who laughed with you, not at you.

Buster barked, and Maya laughed. Yeah. Definitely.