The Hat, The DM, The Green Smile

Maya stood in front of her mirror, tilting the vintage fedora at exactly the angle she'd seen on TikTok. It wasn't really her style—she was more hoodie-and-sneakers—but this was summer between eighth and ninth grade, and apparently everything was supposed to change. Her new "aesthetic" or whatever.

Her iphone buzzed with another Discord notification. Connor from science class had been DM-ing her all week about the beach party tonight, and honestly? She was spiraling. What if she showed up looking like she was trying too hard? What if the hat made her look like a middle-aged detective?

"You look great, sweetie," her mom called from downstairs. "Dinner's almost ready!"

Spinach. Again.

Maya's family went through spinach like it was oxygen. Spinach salad, spinach smoothies, spinach everything. It was healthy, sustainable, whatever—but right now? The last thing she needed before seeing Connor was green teeth.

At the party, the hat kept sliding sideways in the ocean breeze. She was overthinking every interaction, checking her iphone every thirty seconds like it contained the secret to being normal. Then she spotted Connor near the bonfire, wearing that same dorky Pokemon shirt from school, and suddenly the tightness in her chest loosened.

"Hey," he said, grinning. "Nice hat."

"Thanks," she started to adjust it, then stopped. "Actually, it's kind of sliding everywhere."

Connor laughed. "My mom made me wear these "nice" shorts and I've been regretting it all night."

They ended up sitting on the edge of the boardwalk, talking about everything and nothing. Maya finally checked her phone—two hours had passed. Connor reached for a bag of chips from the cooler, then froze.

"Uh, Maya?"

"What?"

"You have a little..." He pointed to his own teeth. "Spinach, maybe?"

She wanted to die. Right there. Sink into the ocean and never surface.

"Oh my god," she mumbled, reaching for her phone camera like a mirror.

"It's fine," Connor said, but he was laughing. Not mean laughing. The real kind. "Honestly, it's kind of refreshing. Everyone here is trying so hard to be perfect, and you're just... real."

Maya looked at her reflection in the dark phone screen. Green teeth. Sliding hat. Zero chill.

She wiped it off and started laughing too.

"Yeah," she said. "I guess I am."