The Green Smoothie Incident

Maya's first week at Tropical Juice Barn was going great until Tyler walked in. Tyler, who'd been her best friend since seventh grade, before he got hot and joined the varsity soccer team and became basically unrecognizable.

"What's good?" He leaned against the counter, all easy confidence and varsity jacket.

"Everything?" Maya hated how her voice squeaked. "Also, you're literally blocking the line."

"Chill. I came for your signature creation." He grinned, and Maya's stomach did that annoying flutter thing. "Rumor mill says you made something actually drinkable."

The rumor mill was actually just Jessica Chen posting about Maya's spinach-kale-mango experiment on her Instagram story. Which was weird, but whatever.

"It's called The Hulk," Maya said, reaching for the blender. "And I'm adding papaya today because I'm chaotic like that."

"Papaya? Bro, that's suspicious fruit energy."

"You're suspicious fruit energy," Maya shot back weakly. She needed better material.

By noon, The Hulk had developed a cult following. Maya was blending spinach and papaya like her life depended on it, accidentally building this literal pyramid of empty cups by the register because she was too slammed to clear them. Jessica kept filming it for TikTok.

"You're famous," Tyler said, appearing again during lull number three. "It's kinda gross but also iconic?"

"Thanks?"

"No, for real." He stepped closer, and Maya noticed he had a tiny piece of spinach stuck in his braces. "Like, remember last year when you did that presentation on ancient Egypt and built that sugar cube pyramid that collapsed?"

Maya's face burned. "We agreed never to speak of that."

"This is your redemption arc, though." His grin was actually nice. Not that she was noticing. "You're out here building empires. One questionable smoothie at a time."

"They're NOT questionable—"

"Maya." His voice softened. "I'm proud of you. Like, actually."

The flutter in her stomach turned into something warmer. "Oh."

"Also." He pointed at his teeth. "How long has that spinach been there?"

"Since first period," she deadpanned, and he groaned.

Maya handed him a napkin, thinking maybe some things hadn't changed after all. And maybe that wasn't the worst thing in the world.