The Salad Bar Incident

Maya's first week at Northwood High was going exactly as well as that time in sixth grade when she accidentally wore her shirt inside out all day. Which is to say: not great at all.

"Just introduce yourself, smile, and don't be weird," her mom had said that morning. Easy for her to say. She wasn't the one navigating the treacherous waters of the cafeteria social hierarchy.

The lunch line stretched before her like a gauntlet. At the salad bar, Maya's hand hovered over the metal tongs. Her brain screamed *don't do it* but her trembling fingers betrayed her, scooping a mountain of raw spinach onto her plate. Because apparently, Maya thought, nothing says "cool, approachable new girl" quite like leafy greens that would definitely get stuck in her braces.

"Nice," said a voice behind her. "You actually like that stuff?"

Maya turned, spinach already threatening rebellion from her overloaded fork. Standing there was Jordan—track star, student council vice president, and objectively the most gorgeous human being Maya had ever seen IRL.

"It's... an acquired taste?" Maya managed, her voice cracking spectacularly.

Jordan laughed, and something in Maya's chest did a little flip. They weren't mocking her. They were... actually smiling?

"My cousin's a nutritionist," Jordan said, grabbing their own plate. "Apparently spinach is a superfood. I've been trying to force myself to eat it for weeks."

They walked to a table together—Maya trying desperately to chew gracefully, Jordan scrolling TikTok and occasionally showing her memes that made them both snort-laugh so hard that Maya's spinach deposits became increasingly precarious.

By the end of lunch, Maya had survived: one awkward braces moment, two failed attempts at sounding casual, and discovering that Jordan's username was @bear_paws_98 (a childhood nickname that had somehow stuck).

"Same time tomorrow?" Jordan asked as the bell rang.

Maya nodded, feeling something unfamiliar and warm bloom in her chest. "Yeah. Same time."

She'd survived lunch. She'd made a potential friend. And she'd eaten enough spinach to fuel a small farm. Not bad for day three.