The Green Smoothie Betrayal
Maya stared at the Blender Bomber recipe on her phone, watching the third video this week from someone she'd gone to middle school with. *«Five cups of spinach, one banana, and literally your entire personality»*, Chloe captioned her post, hashtagging #wellnesswarrior and #eatcleanliveclean like her life depended on it.
The problem? Chloe hated spinach. Like, would literally gag if it touched her plate. Maya knew this because they'd been best friends since seventh grade, back when Chloe's idea of health was eating an entire pizza by herself and calling it emotional self-care.
Now? Now Chloe was collabing with vitamin brands and acting like she'd never touched a processed carb in her life.
«You're literally glowing!» commented someone Chloe had never met IRL.
Maya threw her phone across her bed. Whatever. Fine.
Friday night, Chloe dragged her to this trendy smoothie place that smelled like overpriced health and desperate optimism. Maya watched Chloe order the Green Goddess Supreme — literal handfuls of spinach, activated charcoal (why), and something called «adaptogenic mushroom blend» that cost seventeen dollars.
«You want a sip?» Chloe asked, doing that thing where she tilted her head and widened her eyes like a sad puppy.
Maya took the cup. «You hate spinach. You literally threw up that one time your mom tried to hide it in smoothies.»
Chloe's face cracked. Not like a smile — like, actually broke. «People need this stuff, though. My account helps them.»
«Helps them what? Feel bad about not spending twenty dollars on grass water?» Maya snapped. Then softer: «You're my friend. You don't have to pretend.»
Chloe stared at her $17 cup of sadness. «I don't know who I am without the likes anymore.»
«Then let's figure it out,» Maya said. «Starting with you drinking that gross smoothie.»
Chloe took a tiny sip, gagged dramatically, and they both cracked up. Maybe they'd both delete their apps later. Maybe Chloe would discover she actually liked mushrooms. Maybe not. Whatever. At least they'd do it for real.