The Sphinx in the Cafeteria

I had been crushing on Jordan since September, and today—finally—I'd worked up the courage to sit at their lunch table. My stomach was doing full gymnastics routine.

"Hey," Jordan said, barely looking up from their phone. They had this unreadable expression, like a literal sphinx—mysterious, distant, impossible to read. Were they annoyed? Bored? Secretly thrilled? WHO KNEW.

I nervously unpacked my lunch. Mom, in her infinite wisdom to expand my palate, had packed papaya. Again. I'd never even SEEN papaya before eighth grade, and now it was somehow my life.

"What's that?" Jordan asked, actually making eye contact for the first time.

"Papaya," I said, trying to sound like someone who totally ate exotic fruits on the regular. "It's... got enzymes? Really good for digestion?" WHY did I say digestion.

Jordan's lip twitched. "Cool."

I took a bite, and obviously that's when the universe chose to betray me. My tongue somehow wrapped around a chunk of spinach from earlier, and now it was wedged firmly between my front teeth.

I froze. Do I spit it out? Pretend it's not there? Continue being a normal human person who definitely doesn't have food in their teeth while talking to their crush?

Jordan was still in full sphinx mode, giving me absolutely zero help. Their expression remained entirely neutral as I sat there, internally screaming, spinach flagrantly displayed like I was decorating for some kind of vegetable parade.

"You got something," Jordan said finally, nodding toward my mouth.

My face burned. I grabbed a napkin, covered my mouth like I was containing a biohazard, and somehow—miraculously—dislodged the offending green debris.

"Thanks," I mumbled, wanting to dissolve into the cafeteria floor.

Jordan smiled. Not a small smile. A genuine, eyes-crinkling smile that completely shattered the sphinx vibe. "Happens to everyone. Last week, I had cilantro in my braces for three periods."

"Seriously?"

"Straight up. My friend was too busy laughing to tell me."

We spent the rest of lunch exchanging embarrassing food stories. The papaya turned out to be a conversation starter. Who knew. And Jordan? Definitely not as sphinx-like as I thought. Maybe, just maybe, they'd been nervous too.