The Green Smoothie Incident

Maya's kale smoothie sat untouched on the kitchen counter. Her mom's latest health phase meant spinach was now a food group, and Maya was pretty sure the green flecks in her teeth were not a vibe.

"You're going to swim practice, right?" her mom called from upstairs.

"Yeah, just need my phone." Maya grabbed her iPhone, tugging the charging cable free. The frayed wire had seen better days, but so had her social life lately.

At the pool, Coach Rodriguez announced time trials. Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgot how to be an organ. She'd been avoiding the water since last month's incident — the one where everyone saw her panic attack mid-lap. The panic attacks were new. The therapy was new. This whole having-feelings thing was new.

"Maya, you're up."

She positioned herself on the block, WiFi signal dwindling as she mentally drafted the group chat apology she'd send later. *Sorry I drowned during time trials, won't happen again lol.*

The whistle blew.

Water swallowed her whole. For a second, everything was muffled and blue and safe. Then her arms remembered what they were supposed to do, and she was moving, slicing through the lane like she actually belonged there. Her phone sat on deck, probably blowing up with texts she'd ignore until later.

She touched the wall, gasping.

"Thirty-two," Coach Rodriguez said. "That's a personal best."

Maya pulled herself up, dripping everywhere. That's when she saw him — Jason, leaning against the fence, holding something green between his fingers.

"You, uh..." He pointed at his own smile. "You got a little..."

Spinach. From breakfast. That had been surviving in her teeth for four hours.

"Oh my GOD." She covered her face. "That's been there since 7 AM. Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Jason shrugged, actually grinning now. "I mean, you looked pretty focused on not drowning. Priorities, right?"

Her phone buzzed against the concrete. One new message from Jason: *smoothie criminals unite 😂*

Maybe the water wasn't so scary after all. Maybe neither were the awkward moments, or the therapy sessions, or the fact that she was kind of a mess sometimes. Maybe that was just what being sixteen felt like — treading water until you figured out how to swim.

"Race you to the other side?" Jason asked.

Maya stood up, spinach shame and all. "You're going down."