The Orange Juice Incident

Maya was running late. Again. The cross country meet had started fifteen minutes ago and she was still in the parking lot, hyperventilating into her team shirt.

"You good?" asked Leo, leaning against his beat-up Honda. He had this annoying habit of being calm while Maya spiraled.

"I'm gonna puke," she said. "Actually throw up everywhere."

Leo reached into his backpack and pulled out a Tupperware container. "Here. My mom swore this would help with nerves. Something about... I don't know, vitamins?"

Maya stared at the green mush. "What is that?"

"Spinach," Leo said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "With some bananas and weird protein powder. Just try it."

She did. It tasted like grass and disappointment. But somehow, her stomach stopped doing backflips.

"Thanks," she said, wiping her mouth. "You're actually not terrible."

Leo laughed. "Coming from you, that's basically a love letter."

They walked to the starting line together. The announcer's voice crackled over the speakers, calling the varsity girls to the line. Maya's heart was pounding again, but different this time. Not fear-exactly. Something else.

"Hey," Leo said, stopping before the coaches' area. "Good luck. Not that you need it."

She smiled. For once, she didn't feel like the girl who transferred schools three times in two years. The girl whose dad lived in another state. The girl who was always running—literally and figuratively—from everything.

"Wait," she called. Leo turned. "After the race, you want to get food? There's that place with the—"

"Orange juice?" Leo grinned. "Yeah. I've seen you stare at it every morning at breakfast. You're weirdly obsessed."

"It's NOT weirdly obsessed! It's just... good."

"It's just orange juice, Maya."

"THE BEST orange juice."

He laughed again. "Okay, sure. After your race. Go crush it."

She did crush it. Personal record by eight seconds. And when she found Leo afterward, he was waiting with two cups of pulpy orange goodness.

"Best post-race recovery drink," he said, handing her one.

Maya took it. For the first time in forever, she wasn't running anymore. She was right where she wanted to be.