Spinach Teeth & Palm Sweats

Maya's palms were sweating. Like, actually sweating. She wiped them on her denim shorts (again) and adjusted the strap of her dress, which kept sliding down her shoulder. Jake's party started in ten minutes, and she was currently having a crisis in her bathroom mirror.

"You look fine, honey," her mom called from somewhere downstairs. "Just don't forget your—"

"My phone, I know," Maya cut in, grabbing it off the counter. Her reflection stared back: curls slightly frizzy from the humidity, makeup attempting to look casual but failing, and—oh no.

Oh. NO.

A tiny piece of spinach was wedged between her front teeth. From lunch. FOUR HOURS AGO. She'd been walking around with spinach in her teeth for four hours and NO ONE had told her. Not her best friend Kai, not her mom, not the random barista at Dutch Bros who definitely could've said something.

"Maya! You're gonna be late!"

She groaned and grabbed her phone, sprinting downstairs to where her mom was waiting by the door. Her dad offered her some weird papaya smoothie thing he'd made—"It's good for your skin!"—but she declined, because papaya was disgusting and she was already stressed enough.

The party was at Jake's house, which had a pool and a tiki bar situation in the backyard (his parents were rich, it was fine). Maya arrived and immediately found Kai by the water, her feet dangling in the pool.

"Dude," Kai whispered, pulling Maya down beside her. "Jake was looking for you earlier."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it felt like it dropped three inches. "Why?"

Kai shrugged. "Idk, maybe he wants to—"

"Hey!" Jake himself appeared behind them, water dripping from his hair. "You made it."

Maya's palms started sweating again. She wiped them on her shorts (again) and managed, "Yeah. Cool party."

"Thanks." Jake sat down beside her, their arms almost touching. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

"Uh, sure?"

"I've been wanting to ask you..." He paused. "Would you want to come to the beach with me tomorrow? Just us?"

Maya's brain stopped working. Like, completely. She was pretty sure she forgot how to breathe for a second.

"Yes," she heard herself say. "I mean—yeah. That'd be cool."

Jake grinned. "Awesome. Pick you up at ten?"

After he walked away, Kai grabbed Maya's arm. "DUDE. Did that just happen?"

Maya nodded, still in shock. "I think so."

"Wait." Kai squinted at her. "You have something in your—"

Maya's eyes went wide. "Don't say it."

"But it's right there—"

"I KNOW, KAI. I literally JUST dealt with this before I came here. HOW is it BACK?"

Kai started cracking up, and soon Maya was too, laughing so hard she snorted, and somehow that made it better. Jake asked her out, and sure, maybe she had spinach in her teeth again, but honestly? Whatever. She'd deal with it tomorrow.