The Green Smoothie Sabotage

I stared at the blender like it contained radioactive waste. My mom's latest health kick meant I was chugging spinach smoothies before school. "It's packed with vitamin K!" she'd chirp, already halfway out the door to her yoga class. Yeah, and also packed with tasting like actual lawn clippings.

But I needed every advantage I could get. Cross country tryouts were Friday, and I was NOT about to get cut again. Not when Fox—the senior who'd been state champ last year—would be there watching.

Fox Thompson. Even the name made my stomach do that weird fluttery thing. She was fast, ruthless, and had this hair that fell in perfect auburn waves even when she'd been running six-minute miles. The whole team called her "The Fox" because she was sly as hell and somehow always knew everyone's secrets before they even told anyone.

I'd been crushing on her since freshman year, which was pathetic because she probably didn't even know I existed. I was just some sophomore who finished middle of the pack at every meet.

"You ready for this?" My best friend Jordan asked as we lined up at the starting line on tryout day. He'd been my running buddy since middle school, back when we both sucked equally. Now he was actually getting fast.

I nodded, trying to look confident. My stomach churned from nerves and that damn smoothie.

The coach blew the whistle. We took off.

My legs felt heavy in the first half-mile. The spinach betrayal was real. But then I saw Fox up ahead, running effortless and gorgeous, and something clicked. I forgot about the smoothie, forgot about the nerves. I just pushed.

I ended up finishing fourth. Not amazing, but not terrible. Coach nodded at me, wrote something on his clipboard.

Afterward, Fox appeared beside me, sweat-drenched and somehow still perfect. "Nice kick at the end," she said. "You been training differently?"

My brain short-circuited. She'd noticed me? She'd watched me run?

"Uh, yeah," I managed. "More... vitamins?" WHY DID I SAY THAT.

Fox laughed—actually laughed—and my heart did something illegal. "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. See you at practice tomorrow."

She walked away, and Jordan appeared next to me, grinning like an idiot. "Dude. Fox Thompson just noticed you."

I stood there grinning like an absolute loser, thinking maybe my mom's gross smoothies weren't so bad after all. Or maybe it was just that running—literally running toward what I wanted instead of away from everything—was finally starting to work.