Spinach Truth

Marcus felt like a zombie after pulling three all-nighters in a row to finish his AP Euro project. His mom had been on his case about his sleep schedule, giving him that concerned look that somehow managed to be both annoying and endearing at the same time.

"You're going to burn out before finals, Marcus," she'd said yesterday morning, placing a steaming bowl of creamed spinach in front of him. "Eat this. It'll help."

He'd reluctantly taken a bite, not wanting to hurt her feelings, but that was his first mistake.

Now here he was, sitting across from Maya—the girl he'd been crushing on since September—in the school library during their scheduled study session. They'd been talking about the upcoming spring formal, and things had been going actually pretty well. Maya was laughing at his terrible jokes, leaning in closer than usual, and Marcus was mentally high-fiving himself.

Then it happened. Maya's eyes widened slightly, and she made this weird expression like she was trying not to stare at something.

"Marcus..." she started, then stopped herself.

"What?" he asked, suddenly paranoid. Did he say something weird? Was his hair messed up?

"You have..." she gestured vaguely at her own teeth, looking away.

He'd rushed to the bathroom to find a massive piece of spinach wedged right between his front teeth. How long had it been there? The entire conversation? Since lunch?

Marcus wanted to just bear the embarrassment and disappear, but instead he fixed it and walked back out, his face burning.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled, dropping into his seat.

Maya just smiled. "No big deal. But my cousin Devon? He had spinach in his teeth for literally ALL of picture day last year. We call him Spinach Truth now because he can't hide anything."

Marcus laughed despite himself. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Maybe." Maya grinned, and somehow the awkward tension dissolved. "But honestly? It's kind of refreshing. Most guys try to act all tough around me, like they're some massive bear who's too cool for everything. You're just... real."

The real bull in Marcus's head—the one constantly telling him he wasn't good enough, that he'd mess this up—suddenly went quiet.

"Yeah, well," Marcus said, feeling his confidence return, "real awkward, apparently."

"I like it," Maya said softly, looking down at her textbook but clearly not reading it.

Marcus's phone buzzed in his pocket. Probably his mom asking if he'd eaten the spinach she'd packed for his afternoon snack. He'd have to text her back later—right now, he was kind of busy living his best life.