The Green Smoothie Incident

Maya's **iphone** buzzed in her **palm**, vibrating against her sweaty skin. Pool party at Jake's. 3pm. BE THERE.

She stared at her reflection. Hair in a messy bun, the one stray curl refusing to cooperate. Her mom had made her drink that gross green smoothie earlier – something about getting her vitamins. **Spinach** and kale and other things that shouldn't be liquid. She'd nearly gagged, but now she was actually feeling... okay?

Weird.

Jake's house was the kind with an actual backyard and a **pool** that didn't smell like questionable chemicals. When Maya arrived, half the sophomore class was already there, splashing and screaming and doing that thing where everyone pretended to be having the best time ever.

Her crush, Ryan, stood by the snack table wearing a **baseball** cap backward. Of course he did. He was laughing at something Jake said, and Maya's stomach did that annoying fluttery thing.

She should just go home. This was a mistake.

"Hey! You made it!" Jake's twin sister, Chloe, appeared beside her, shoving a red cup into Maya's hand. "Try this. My mom's experimenting with healthy recipes."

Maya took a sip without thinking – and froze.

It tasted EXACTLY like the smoothie her mom made every morning. That distinctive **spinach**-aftertaste, barely masked by way too much pineapple.

"Oh my god," she said, eyes widening. "Does this have..."

"Spinach? Kale? Mango? Basically a salad in a cup." Chloe grinned. "Why?"

Maya started laughing. She couldn't help it. The absurdity of it all – her mother's gross morning ritual, now the star beverage at the party of the year.

"What's so funny?" Ryan appeared beside them, adjusting his **baseball** cap.

"Nothing," Maya said, but she was still grinning. "Just... life is weird sometimes."

He smiled, and the fluttery feeling in her stomach was back. But this time it wasn't awful.

"Want to play **pool** volleyball?" he asked. "We need one more person."

"Sure," Maya said, and something in her chest loosened. "Why not?"

Later, cannonballing into the water with spinach-smoothie breath and Ryan's laughter ringing in her ears, Maya thought: maybe being yourself wasn't the worst thing after all.

Even if yourself was someone who secretly liked green smoothies.