The Pool Party Incident

Maya's summer had been a total flop until her phone buzzed with Jake's invitation to his pool party. The Jake. Swimming team captain, currently flirting with her in bio, and somehow still single. Her stomach did that nervous little flip thing.

Two hours later, she stood at the edge of Jake's backyard pool, clutching her towel like a lifeline. Everyone else was already in the water, laughing and splashing like this was normal. Like they weren't all secretly evaluating each other's swimsuit choices and summer bodies.

"You coming in?" Jake called from the pool. His hair was wet and perfect, obviously.

Maya opened her mouth to respond coolly, but instead she just nodded and stepped toward the pool's edge. That's when her little brother Toby's voice cut through the noise.

"MAYA! You forgot something!" He came barreling out the back door, holding up her phone. "And, uh, you have something in your teeth!"

The whole pool went quiet. Maya's face burned hotter than the July sun. She ran her tongue over her front teeth and felt it—a bright green chunk of spinach, probably from her mom's "attempt at a healthy smoothie" that morning.

She'd been walking around with spinach in her teeth. For hours. Possibly talking to Jake like that.

"Holy crap," someone whispered. Then someone else snorted.

Maya turned to bolt, mortification washing over her like a tidal wave, when Jake suddenly pulled himself out of the pool. He marched right up to her, reached into his own mouth, and pulled out a tiny piece of watermelon stuck in his braces.

"We've all been there," he said, grinning like nothing had happened. "Last week, I had popcorn in my teeth during my presentation. Mr. Henderson almost died trying not to laugh."

The tension broke. People started laughing with them, not at them.

"Now you coming in or what?" Jake asked again.

Maya jumped in, spinach-free and feeling lighter than she had all summer. Sometimes the most embarrassing moments turned out to be the best ones.