Spinach Teeth & Zombie Eyes

Maya had been awake for twenty-seven hours straight, which explained the serious zombie situation happening in her mirror. First house party of sophomore year and she already looked like the walking dead. Classic Maya energy.

"You look fine," reassured her best friend, now helping her with the spinach-artichoke dip that was supposed to make her look cultured and sophisticated. "Jackson's gonna love you. Or at least, he'll notice you exist outside of AP Bio."

Jackson was the whole reason she was currently functioning on three hours of sleep and approximately zero dignity. He'd invited her personally—well, personally as in posted in the group chat "everyone come through" and she'd assumed that included her.

The party was exactly what YouTube tutorials had prepared her for: too loud, too many people trying too hard, and a kitchen island covered in various appetizers. Maya parked herself near the food because socializing was hard and spinach dip was safe.

"Hey, you're in my chem class, right?"

Jackson. Standing there. Actually talking to her. Maya's brain went 404 not found.

"Yeah! Chemistry! Atoms and stuff!" She cringed internally. Her zombie brain had taken the wheel.

He laughed. Nice laugh. "You look tired, dude. You good?"

"I'm amazing," she said, then proceeded to knock over a water bottle with her elbow.

Time slowed down as water cascaded across the counter, directly toward Jackson's expensive sneakers. Maya's soul left her body. This was it. Her social life was over before it had properly begun. She'd have to transfer schools. Maybe move to another country.

But Jackson just sighed and moved his feet. "Honestly? That party foul was kind of legendary."

"I'll pay for your shoes," she said, mortified.

"Nah, just help me clean up. Also, you have spinach in your teeth."

Maya froze. Of course. The universal nightmare scenario. She'd been walking around with green stuff in her braces the whole time.

Instead of dying right there, Maya started laughing. This whole night was ridiculous. She was exhausted, humiliated, and there was literally spinach involved. Might as well commit.

"I've had spinach in my teeth this whole time, haven't I?" She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Since you walked in," Jackson grinned. "I was gonna say something but you seemed nervous and I didn't want to make it worse. Which, looking back, might've been the wrong call."

"Definitely the wrong call."

"My bad." He handed her a paper towel. "So, you wanna watch people fail at beer pong and make fun of them? That's what I'm doing."

Maya looked at this guy who'd watched her arrive with spinach teeth, knock over water, and somehow still wanted to hang out. Maybe tonight wasn't a disaster after all.

"Absolutely," she said. "But I'm drinking water only. I can't afford to be more of a zombie tomorrow."

"Respect," Jackson said, and Maya felt something weird and hopeful in her chest. Maybe sophomore year wouldn't be terrible after all.