The Green Smoothie Betrayal

I'd been best friends with Maya since seventh grade, which meant I knew everything about her. Or so I thought.

But lately, something was off. She'd been ditching me after lunch, disappearing into the bathroom with her backpack, and coming back looking sketchy as hell. My brain went straight to the worst scenarios. Drugs? Secret boyfriend? Vampire cult?

I had to know. So on Tuesday, I went full spy mode. I waited until she dashed to the bathroom, then tailgated her like a pro. Through the crack in the stall door, I watched her pull out a mason jar and—

"Maya, are you seriously chugging spinach juice?"

She nearly choked on whatever green sludge was in that jar. "Zoey! What the actual—were you spying on me?"

"Me? You're the one acting all shifty!" I crossed my arms, feeling justified but also kind of ridiculous. "I thought you were dealing behind the gym or something."

Maya's face went bright pink. "It's not just spinach, okay? It's a vitamin smoothie. My mom got on this health kick and made me swear to drink one every day, but I didn't want anyone to know because it's literally embarrassing."

I stared at her. Then I started laughing. "That's it? That's the big secret?"

"Shut up," she groaned, but she was smiling. "It has papaya in it too, which is actually disgusting, so maybe help me figure out how to dump it without my mom finding out?"

"Deal," I said. "But you owe me. Big time."

"Fine. I'll buy you boba after school. Extra pearls."

"Make it two."

"You're pushing it, Zoey."

"And you're drinking spinach, so we're even."