The Hat That Saved Everything

My hair looked like a catastrophe. Like, actually the worst thing that had ever happened to anyone ever.

"You look fine, Maya," Chloe said, but her eyes said something different. She was already dressed for her padel lesson—designer skirt, perfect ponytail, not a hair out of place. Meanwhile, I was hiding under a baseball cap like my life depended on it.

Sunday brunch at the country club. My mom's brilliant idea. "You'll make friends," she'd said. "Everyone loves padel season."

Right. Because what teenage girl doesn't want to stand on a court with a racquet shorter than her forearm while sweating through her expensive clothes?

"So," Chloe said, poking at her eggs benedict. "You joining the tournament?"

I choked on literally nothing. "The tournament?"

"Yeah. It's like, a huge deal." She lowered her voice. "Tyler's playing."

Tyler. The Tyler. The one with the smile that made my brain do that thing where it forgot how to words. Who I'd been crushing on since school started three months ago.

I took a massive bite of spinach, because apparently my subconscious wanted me to fail before I even began.

"You should sign up," Chloe said. "It'd be fun."

I nodded, still chewing my spinach, feeling like the most awkward human to ever awkward. Then I caught sight of Tyler walking past our table. His eyes swept over me—briefly, politely—and kept going.

"This is humiliating," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing." I swallowed, and my stomach dropped. Because in the reflection of Chloe's sunglasses, I could see it.

A massive chunk of green spinach. Right between my front teeth.

I'd been talking to Chloe with spinach in my teeth for, like, five full minutes. Tyler had seen it. Probably everyone had seen it. My life was effectively over.

I shot up from the table so fast my chair scraped.

"Maya?"

"Bathroom," I choked out.

Then I was running. Past the padel courts, past the perfectly manicured lawns, past groups of people who probably all had normal teeth and normal hair and normal lives. I didn't stop until I reached the parking lot, where I leaned against my mom's car and actually considered just walking home.

"Maya?"

I froze.

Tyler.

I pulled my hat lower, like that would somehow undo everything.

"You, uh, forgot this," he said.

I looked up. He was holding my phone. I'd left it at the table. Because of course I had.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Hey." He stepped closer. "You any good at padel?"

"I'm terrible at it."

"Perfect." He grinned. "Me too. We should be terrible together sometime."

My stomach did that thing again, but this time it wasn't because of spinach.

"Yeah," I said, actually smiling. "We should."

Later, I'd pull off the hat. Later, I'd figure out the hair situation. But right now? I was okay with being a work in progress. Some things, apparently, were worth running toward.