The Spinach Incident

Maya's legs burned as she rounded the track, lungs screaming. Another 6 a.m. **running** practice, another day of operating on four hours of sleep. Junior year was slowly turning her into a **zombie**—she'd actually fallen asleep in AP Calc yesterday, head jerking up just as Mr. Henderson wrote her name on the board in red letters.

The school's social **pyramid** had shifted since sophomore year. Track team used to be middle tier, but after making regionals, Maya and her teammates had climbed a few rungs. Not that it mattered when she could barely keep her eyes open long enough to notice who was sitting with whom at lunch.

"Smoothie?" her best friend Leo slid into the cafeteria seat beside her. "Your mom's recipe."

Maya took a sip and nearly gagged. "Leo, what is IN this?"

"**Spinach**, protein powder, banana, and—"

"Spinach?" she spluttered, realizing too late that she had a bright green mustache across her upper lip. The entire table of varsity football players nearby burst into laughter.

Her face burned. This was it. The moment that would live in infamy, replayed at every graduation party and reunion for the next sixty years. Maya Garcia,Girl Who Wore Her Smoothie.

But then Tyler Evans, the quarterback she'd been secretly crushing on since September, grabbed his own spinach-loaded smoothie and deliberately smeared some across his mouth. "Hey," he called out. "At least someone's actually eating healthy instead of that disgusting cafeteria pizza."

The football players' laughter died down. A few girls from the soccer team grabbed spinach smoothies too, green mustaches and all. Soon half the cafeteria was sporting leafy green upper lips.

Leo grinned. "See? You're practically a trendsetter now."

Maya caught Tyler's eye from across the room. He winked. Something about her junior year suddenly felt a little less zombie-like, a little more alive. Even if she did still have spinach in her teeth.