The Green Smoothie Incident

Maya's palm was sweating against her phone screen as she stood at the edge of the pool, clutching it like a lifeline. This was supposed to be the party of the year—Jason's house, his parents gone, the kind of event that defined your social status for months. Instead, Maya was stuck in the corner, nursing a green concoction that looked like pond water.

"Hey, Maya!" Jason called from across the deck. He was shirtless, holding a baseball bat like he owned the world. "Wanna play baseball? We need one more for teams."

Her heart did that embarrassing fluttery thing. This was it. Her moment. Except she'd been drinking this spinach smoothie her mom forced her to bring, claiming it was "fuel for growing bodies." Maya's stomach was already doing backflips.

"Sure!" she called back, setting down her glass. Big mistake.

The game was chaos. Jason pitched, and Maya's hands shook so hard she nearly missed the ball entirely. When she finally connected, it wasn't a graceful hit—it was more like the ball hit her bat and decided to explode in every direction. Everyone laughed.

"At least you didn't fall in the pool," Jason teased, winking.

Heat rushed to her cheeks. Then her stomach growled. Loudly. Like, really loudly.

"You okay?" Jason's friend Tyler asked. "You look kinda... green."

The spinach smoothie. It was coming back, and not in a good way. Maya bolted for the bathroom, but fate had other plans. Someone had left a baseball in the middle of the floor. She tripped.

The world went sideways. Then wet. Then very green.

Maya surfaced in the pool, coughing, while her smoothie—cup and all—had taken a plunge with her. Green liquid swirled around her like a toxic halo. Everyone stared.

But then Jason jumped in after her, clothes and all. "Now we're matching," he said, his hair dripping green. "Pretty sick, right?"

The group erupted in laughter—not at her, with them. Maya floated there, green-stained and mortified, but somehow, it was okay. Maybe even perfect.

"Totally sick," she said, finally letting her phone sink to the bottom of her bag. She didn't need it anymore.