Spinach Teeth & Sunset Skies

The palm trees swayed against a sky that looked like someone had taken a bruised orange and smeared it across the horizon. California sunsets didn't mess around.

I leaned against the patio railing, nursing a cup of water that had gone warm twenty minutes ago. Below, the pool party raged on—someone's Bluetooth speaker bumping something that made my chest vibrate, laughter exploding every time someone did something stupid. I should've been down there. That's where Taylor was.

"You look like you're mentally calculating your escape route."

I jumped. Marcus stood beside me, wiping water from his face. He'd just emerged from the pool, his baseball cap plastered to his head like it was superglued there. He and his team had placed second in regionals yesterday, which apparently made him royalty tonight.

"Maybe I am," I said.

He grinned, fixing his cap. "Join the club. These things are exhausting." He paused. "Hey, your--" He gestured vaguely at his own front teeth.

My stomach dropped. I sprinted to the bathroom mirror. Sure enough, a forest of spinach from the veggie tray had taken up residence between my front teeth. I'd been walking around with an emerald garden in my smile for probably forty minutes. Taylor had definitely seen it. Everyone had seen it.

I brushed it out, hands shaking. Why was high school this hard? Why did existing feel like a performance review where you didn't even know the criteria?

When I came back out, Marcus was still there. He tossed me an orange from the fruit bowl. "Better than the spinach disaster."

"Thanks," I said, peeling it. "How long were you gonna let me walk around like that?"

"Honestly? I was debating. It was kinda funny." He shrugged. "But also, I've been there. Last homecoming, I had dip in my braces through three whole photos. My mom still has those pictures on the fridge."

I laughed despite myself. The sunset deepened, the orange bleeding into purple. Down below, Taylor waved at me.

"Go talk to her," Marcus said. "Before you find something else stuck in your teeth."

"You coming?"

"Nah." He adjusted his baseball cap. "I'm good right here. Besides, someone's got to make sure no one else commits vegetable-related crimes."

I ate a section of the orange, sticky-sweet on my fingers, and headed toward the pool. The water reflected the last light of the day, and for once, the unknown didn't feel so scary.