Sweaty Palms & Green Drinks

Maya's palms were literally sweating as she stood by the snack table at Tyler's pool party. She'd been crushing on him since freshman year, and now here she was, clutching her thermos like it was a lifeline.

"What's that stuff anyway?" Chloe, Tyler's ex, asked with that tone that made everything sound like an insult. "Looks like something from a witch's brew."

"It's just... spinach water," Maya mumbled, feeling her face heat up. "With some vitamin powder and stuff."

Chloe laughed, and Maya watched two guys from the swim team high-five nearby. This was exactly why she never came to these things. She was always the weird girl with the weird drinks, while everyone else was—well, normal.

"Actually," someone said, "that sounds kinda cool."

Maya looked up to find this girl she'd seen around school—Jordan from art class—standing there with an honest-to-god smile. Not the fake kind everyone else wore.

"My mom's always trying to get me to drink that green stuff," Jordan continued. "I could never get past the taste."

"It's an acquired taste," Maya admitted, surprised at how easy it was to talk to her. "But my doctor said I needed more iron and—"

"Say no more." Jordan grabbed Maya's arm gently. "Come on. Let's go hang out by the palm trees. Away from the judgment zone."

They ended up sitting on the grass behind Tyler's massive house, and Jordan actually tried a sip of Maya's drink. Made a face, but tried it.

"Okay, yeah, that's definitely an acquired taste," Jordan said, wiping her mouth. "Hey, you wanna know something funny?"

Maya nodded.

"I came to this party planning to finally ask Tyler out," Jordan admitted. "But then I saw you over here looking like you'd rather be anywhere else, and I thought—hey, me too."

They stayed out there for hours, talking about everything and nothing. About how spinach water tasted like sadness but your body thanked you later. About how much it sucked when people made you feel small for just being yourself. About how sometimes the bravest thing was showing up at all.

When Jordan's palm brushed against Maya's while they were laughing about something terrible Chloe had done earlier, Maya didn't pull away.

"Your hands aren't sweaty anymore," Jordan noticed softly.

"Yeah," Maya said, and for the first time all day, she wasn't lying. "I guess they're not."

Sometimes the worst parties turned out to be exactly where you needed to be.