What She Didn't Wipe Away

Maya sat across from Jade in the cafeteria, picking at her spinach salad while her best friend talked excitedly about Tyler's party Friday night. Jade's hair fell in perfect beach waves, even though she swore she'd just thrown it up in a messy bun before running out the door. That was the thing about Jade—everything looked effortless.

"You're coming, right?" Jade asked, leaning in. "Tyler literally asked if you'd be there."

Maya's stomach did that little flip thing it always did when Tyler was mentioned. "I don't know. I have that history paper due Monday."

Jade rolled her eyes so hard Maya almost laughed. "It's Thursday, Maya. You have time. Besides, you can't keep avoiding him forever."

Avoiding Tyler wasn't even the real problem, and they both knew it. The problem was that Tyler had finally noticed Maya—actual Maya, with her frizzy hair she'd straightened three times that week, and her general awkwardness, and her tendency to overthink everything—and she didn't know what to do with that.

Maya took another bite of her salad, chewing slower than necessary.

Jade tilted her head. "You have something in your teeth."

Maya's face burned. Of course she did. She dug in her backpack for her phone, flipped on the camera, and there it was: a tiny green piece of spinach wedged right between her front teeth, visible from space, practically glowing with how long it had probably been there. Had she been walking around with it all morning? Had Tyler seen it yesterday when they'd talked by her locker?

She scraped it away with her fingernail, mortified.

"It's fine," Jade said, but she was grinning. "Actually, it's perfect. If Tyler can't handle a little spinach in your teeth, he's not worth it anyway."

Maya groaned. "That's terrible advice."

"It's honest advice." Jade's expression softened. "Maya, you've been my friend since seventh grade, when you cried because you thought you'd failed that math test and I copied off you anyway. You're the realest person I know. If Tyler doesn't see that, spinach or not, he's not the right guy."

Maya looked at her friend—really looked at her. The spinach incident was embarrassing, yeah. But Jade was still sitting there, still looking at her like she hung the moon, still ready to hype her up at a moment's notice.

"Fine," Maya said. "I'll go."

Jade pumped her fist. "That's what I'm talking about. Now finish your spinach and let me fix your hair. We've got a party to get ready for."