The Green Smoothie Sabotage

Maya's legs burned as she sprinted down the hallway, late again because her cat Luna had decided her math homework was a personal pillow. Mr. Harrison was definitely going to kill her, but that wasn't even the worst part.

The worst part was the spinach smoothie.

It had seemed like such a good idea this morning—health influencer energy, green aesthetic, whole new Maya for sophomore year. She'd even Instagrammed it. But now, as she rounded the corner toward first period, she caught her reflection in the locker bay glass and saw the specks of green lodged in her braces like tiny vegetable hostages.

She was still staring at her reflection, contemplating just walking into oncoming traffic, when Caleb tapped her shoulder.

"Running late again?" He asked it like it was their inside joke. Which, terrifyingly, it kind of was.

Maya's brain short-circuited. This was Caleb—track star, owner of the best jawline in the tenth grade, and apparently the person who'd been sitting behind her in homeroom for two years while she remained too paralyzed to form complete sentences around him.

"My cat," she blurted. "She. Ate my. Uh. Calculator."

What?

Caleb's forehead crinkled. "Your cat ate your calculator?"

"Yeah. Luna's basically a predator." Maya was now fully committed to the lie. "Anyway, gotta—" She gestured vaguely toward Mr. Harrison's classroom.

"Wait," Caleb said. "You have a little—" He pointed at his own teeth.

Maya's soul left her body. This was it. The social execution. She'd have to change her name and move to a different continent. Maybe Canada.

But then Caleb reached into his pocket and pulled out a mirror. "Spinach," he said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I had the same problem last week when I tried those health drinks my mom's been pushing."

He waited while she scraped her braces clean with her fingernail, dying inside approximately seventeen different deaths.

"Better?" she whispered.

"Much." He grinned. "Hey, after school, want to come to the track? I'm doing some extra running, and I could use someone who understands the struggle of healthy living."

Maya's heart did something illegal against the laws of physics. "Spinach struggle solidarity?"

"Exactly." He winked. "See you then, smoothie girl."

As Maya walked into class three minutes late, Mr. Harrison didn't even write her up. Some days, the universe just decided to cut you a break.

Even if you did look like a spinach monster first.