Spinach Teeth & Saturday Nights

Maya's reflection in the bathroom mirror told her everything she needed to know: she had spinach in her teeth. Of course. Because life wasn't already humiliating enough.

She'd been crushing on Lucas since seventh period English, and tonight—finally—she'd worked up the nerve to flirt with him at Sarah's party. Instead, she'd spent twenty minutes smiling with what looked like a tiny green forest taking over her mouth.

"You should've told me," she said to Jordan, her best friend since fourth grade. Jordan was supposed to be her wingman, her ride-or-die, the person who'd save her from social suicide.

Jordan shrugged, not looking up from their phone. "I thought you knew. Besides, Lucas wasn't even listening."

Maya's stomach twisted. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's full of bull, Maya." Jordan finally looked up, expression unreadable. "He's only talking to you because he wants to copy your chem homework. He was literally texting someone else about it while you were flirting with your spinach situation."

The room tilted. Maya had spent weeks overthinking every interaction with Lucas, rehearsing conversations in her head, practicing her cool-girl laugh in mirrors. And the whole time? She was just the smart girl with the answers.

But what hurt worse was Jordan knowing and not saying anything until now.

"So you just let me embarrass myself?" Maya's voice cracked. "Some friend you are."

Jordan's face flushed. "I tried to warn you! Remember when I said Lucas wasn't worth your time? You didn't listen. You never listen when it's about a guy you like."

The silence stretched between them, loaded with months of unspoken things—how Jordan had been pulling away since they started high school, how Maya was so desperate to fit in with the popular crowd that she'd stopped noticing her actual friend was drifting away.

"I thought..." Maya started, then stopped. "I thought you were jealous."

"Of Lucas?" Jordan let out this dry laugh. "Maya, I'm gay. I came out to you in eighth grade. You were literally the first person I told."

Maya's face burned. She'd forgotten. She'd been so caught up in her own drama, her own crushes and insecurities, that she'd forgotten something Jordan had trusted her with.

The bathroom door opened and a few girls walked in, giving them weird looks. Maya grabbed Jordan's arm and pulled them into the hallway.

"I'm sorry," she said, meaning it. "I've been so wrapped up in myself that I've been a terrible friend. You tried to warn me about Lucas, and I didn't listen. I didn't listen to a lot of things."

Jordan's expression softened. "You know what you need?"

"What?"

"To stop caring so much about what people think. Spinach in your teeth? Whatever. Lucas using you for homework? His loss. You're smart, you're funny, and you have way better things to worry about than some guy who's not worth your time."

Maya thought about it. She did have better things to worry about. Like fixing her friendship with Jordan. Like being the kind of friend who actually listened.

"So," Jordan said. "Wanna bail? We can go get fries and mock terrible rom-coms at my place."

Maya grinned, and this time she didn't care if there was spinach in her teeth. "Absolutely."

Sometimes the worst nights turned into the best stories. And sometimes the bull you had to wade through wasn't other people—it was your own mess, finally ready to be cleaned up.