Bearing It All

The chlorine hit Maya's nose before she even stepped through the gate. Jordan's end-of-summer pool party. The social event of the season, apparently. And Maya was hiding behind the snack table, clutching a red plastic cup like it was her only lifeline.

She'd been crushing on Jordan since seventh period algebra freshman year. Two years of stolen glances and awkward hallway nods. Now, standing in her one-piece (she'd chickened out of the bikini at the last minute), watching Jordan float in the deep end with their perfect friends, Maya felt like she was suffocating.

"You gonna actually get in the **water** anytime this century?" Jordan called out, splashing water toward her. Everyone laughed. Maya's face burned.

"Yeah, uh, just warming up," she mumbled, checking her phone for the fifteenth time. No texts from her mom. Thank god. If her mom knew she was here, surrounded by Jordan and their friends, she'd lose it.

The burden of hiding everything from her parents – her sexuality, her crushes, her real self – was getting too heavy to **bear**. It felt like she was carrying around a backpack filled with rocks, and the straps were cutting into her shoulders.

"That's **bull** and you know it," Maya's best friend Kai whispered beside her. "You've been 'warming up' for forty minutes. Just dive in already."

Maya looked at Kai, really looked at them. Kai, who'd come out in eighth grade and dealt with everything – the whispers, the questions, the occasional idiot comment – with this effortless confidence Maya secretly envied.

"I can't," Maya admitted, her voice barely audible. "What if... what if they know? About me?"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Know what? That you're human? That you overthink everything? That you've been staring at Jordan like they hung the moon since freshman year?"

Maya's stomach dropped. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to everyone who pays attention," Kai grinned. "But newsflash, genius: Jordan's been flirting back. You're just too busy panicking to notice."

Before Maya could process that, Jordan swam over to the edge, dripping **water** everywhere. "Hey," Jordan said, sounding suddenly nervous. "You doing okay? You seem... I don't know, like something's bothering you."

The moment stretched. Maya looked at Jordan's earnest expression. At Kai's encouraging nod. At the weight she'd been carrying for two years.

"Yeah," Maya said, her voice stronger than she felt. "Actually, there is something. I wanted to tell you..."