The Spinach Incident

I'd been **running** laps around the track for forty-five minutes when Coach Miller finally blew his whistle. My legs burned, lungs screaming, but I kept going. That's what I did—kept going, even when I wanted to stop. Even when everything felt like too much.

"Hey, Marcus!" Jasmine called from the bleachers. She was sitting with her friends, all of them looking effortless and perfect in their curated thrift-store outfits. I waved, trying to play it cool, even though my heart was already hammering from the workout.

"My parents are having people over tonight," she said, casual as anything. "You should come. We're ordering pizza, watching movies on Netflix since my dad finally cut the **cable** bill."

"Yeah," I said, maybe too quickly. "That sounds chill."

I walked home on autopilot, already mentally cataloging everything that could go wrong. My mom was in the kitchen making dinner when I came in, and that's when I saw it—the giant bowl of salad on the counter.

"Eat something healthy before you go," she said, handing me a plate loaded with **spinach** and tomatoes. "You're growing, you need nutrients."

I wolfed it down, too nervous about Jasmine's party to care that half of it probably ended up in my teeth. I changed into my best hoodie, checked my hair three times, and headed out.

The party was fine. Great, actually. Jasmine and I talked for hours about music and classes and how weird it was being juniors. I felt like I was finally getting it right—until I got home and looked in the bathroom mirror.

A massive piece of **spinach** was stuck between my front teeth. Had been there all night. While I was talking to Jasmine. While she was laughing at my jokes. While I thought I was being smooth and interesting and worth knowing.

I stood there for a full minute, wanting to disappear, wanting to **run** back to the track and keep going until I couldn't feel anything anymore. But then I started laughing. Because what else could I do?

The next day at school, I walked up to Jasmine at lunch.

"So," I said, not making eye contact. "I had spinach in my teeth last night. Like, the whole time."

She paused, then cracked up. "Oh my god, I noticed but didn't want to say anything and make it weird!"

"You're the worst," I said, but I was grinning.

"You're the one who ate salad before a party," she shot back.

We're still not dating or anything. But she texts me memes about **cable** companies sometimes, and yesterday she brought me a bag of **spinach** as a joke. I don't know what we are, exactly. But I know I'm not **running** away from it anymore.