The Green Between Your Teeth

Maya's iPhone burned against her palm, her sixth Insta story of the night documenting how not awkward she was at Tyler's party. Spoiler: she was fully awkward. The bass from the living room shook the floorboards, but she'd cornered herself in the kitchen pretending to be fascinated by a bag of baby spinach like it was some exotic artifact.

"You gonna eat that, or just stare into its soul?"

Maya jumped, nearly dropping her phone. This guy—this actual fox, with dark curls falling over his eyes and a leather jacket that looked like it had stories—leaned against the counter, grinning like he knew something she didn't. Her palms went instantly sweaty. Great. Now she was the spinach girl AND the sweaty palm girl.

"It's..." Maya started, then realized her tongue had gone full malfunction. "It's spinach."

"I see that." He pushed off the counter, suddenly way too close. "I'm Leo. You're Maya, right? You're in AP Lit with my sister."

Her stomach did that thing where it forgot how to organ. He knew who she was?

"Yeah, that's me." She gestured vaguely with the spinach bag because apparently she was committed to the bit now.

Leo's grin widened. "You got a little..." He pointed at his own teeth, and Maya's soul left her body.

The spinach. From dinner. The spinach she'd thoughtfully consumed right before leaving because her mom had nagged her about eating more vegetables. It was probably staging a full production number between her front teeth.

"Oh my GOD." She slapped her palm over her mouth. "How long?"

"Long enough that it's kind of iconic." Leo opened the fridge, casual as anything. "Want me to tell you when it's safe?"

She nodded against her palm, defeated.

"You're good now," he said after a second. "But for real, thank you for the most entertaining conversation I've had tonight. Everyone out there is talking about college applications like they're prepping for surgery."

Maya finally lowered her hand, her face still burning but maybe... maybe this wasn't total social suicide. Leo was still grinning at her, not like he was laughing at her, but like she'd actually made his night better.

"Spinach is underrated," she heard herself say, and Leo laughed.

"Yeah? Show me what else you got." He nudged the spinach bag toward her. "I'm listening."

Her iPhone buzzed with another notification—probably her group chat asking where she'd disappeared to—but Maya ignored it, turning her phone screen-down on the counter. Some things were better than filters. Some things were worth being awkward for.