The Green Between My Teeth

I became a spy by accident. It was supposed to be just another summer pool party at Jessica's house, the kind where the popular kids float like they own the water and the rest of us pretend we know how to chill. But then I got assigned to snack duty, and suddenly I was positioned perfectly behind the chip bowl, invisible and collecting intel.

"Did you hear what Tyler said to Maya?" I heard Sarah whisper while her boyfriend Marcus floated past on an inflatable flamingo. I crunched louder on a chip, pretending not to listen. This was my spy moment—me, Leo, the guy who'd spent two years trying to blend into lockers.

Then I saw HER. Riley, the girl I'd been crushing on since seventh period English, walked toward the snack table. My heart did that thing where it forgets how to rhythm. I grabbed the first thing in reach—some fancy spinach dip Jessica's mom made—and piled it onto a cracker like I was some kind of sophisticated food critic.

"Hey Leo," she said, and I swear time actually stopped. "Having fun?"

"Yeah," I managed, my mouth full of spinach. "Just... hanging out. Being cool."

She smiled, and I thought I was nailing it. Until Jessica's little brother decided to cannonball into the pool right next to us, sending a wave of chlorinated water splashing across the snack table. Riley jumped back, laughing, but I stood there frozen—green spinach dip dripping down my favorite band tee, chunks of it stuck in my braces like I'd been chewing on a lawn.

"Oh my god, Leo!" someone called. "Nice look!"

The whole pool area went quiet, then erupted. I wanted to dissolve into the concrete. But then Riley started laughing too—not at me, but with this genuine giggle that made everything less terrible.

"Actually," she said, grabbing a napkin, "I've been wanting to try that dip all night but didn't want to be the first one. You're brave."

I wiped spinach from my chin, grinning like an idiot. Sometimes being a spy means learning that the people you're intimidated by are just waiting for someone to make the first move—even if that move involves covered in green dip.

"Want some?" I asked, sliding the bowl toward her.

"Definitely." She grinned back. "But maybe we'll skip the pool cannonball this time."