The Cafeteria Catastrophe

Marcus第十五次解锁他的iPhone，像做贼一样快速扫过Mia的Instagram Story。这就是当十五岁的你在暗恋某人时的日常——变成一个兼职社交媒体侦探，某种荣誉学位的线上spy。

"Bro，你又在stalking她的profile了？"最佳好友Devon在他旁边坐下，手里拿着两只hot dog。"直接去跟她说话就好。"

"你说得倒轻巧，"Marcus嘟囔着，locking his phone。明天就是那场big varsity baseball比赛对抗他们的rival学校，而Mia会出现在cheerleading squad。他想impress her——真的需要一次winning moment来boost his confidence。

所以当他的mom提议在赛前晚餐"吃点健康"时，他没有argue。他实际上吃了那份spinach salad，即使他usually讨厌greens。他想要energized，ready，focused。

这就是how he ended up在第二天cafeteria里，坐在Mia和她的friends同一张桌子上，心脏race得像他在bases之间sprint。

"Hey Marcus，"Mia说，smiling。"Excited for the game今天？"

"Yeah，totally，"他说，试图play it cool但他的voice cracked。"We've been practicing super hard。"

Her friends were giggling about something，but then Mia squinted at him。"Um，Marcus？You have..."

他的heart stopped。She noticed？She liked him？

"Spinach in your teeth，"she finished，suppressing a laugh。"Like，a lot of it。"

整个table erupted。Marcus felt his face burn hot like the sun。Great。This was it。His social life was over。He'd forever be "Spinach Boy"。

But then Mia was laughing too—not mean laughter，but genuine，warm laughter。And she was digging through her backpack，pulling out a compact mirror。"Here，let me help you。"

She handed it over，their fingers brushing。For a second，the embarrassment faded，replaced by something warm and sparkly。

"Thanks，"Marcus mumbled，wiping the green evidence from his teeth。

"No problem，"Mia said，still smiling。"Good luck at the game。I'll be cheering。"

Later那晚，standing on home plate，bases loaded，two outs，Marcus spotted Mia in the stands。She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled："GO SPINACH BOY！"

The whole team heard it。The crowd heard it。And Marcus didn't even care。He swung，made contact，and watched the ball sail over the fence。

Maybe being Spinach Boy wasn't so bad after all。有时候the most embarrassing moments become the best stories。And sometimes，just sometimes，a little spinach in your teeth leads to a home run。