Beneath the Water

Maya's hair floated around her like seaweed in the community pool, chlorinated and blue. She'd spent three hours straightening it that morning, terrified of looking like a frizzball at finals. Now it was ruined, and honestly? She didn't care.

"Maya, you're literally drowning out here," Chloe called from the deck. Her best friend since third grade, now suddenly too cool for swim team. "Come on, my cousin's having people over."

Maya ducked under the water. The muffled silence was better than Chloe's voice lately—everything was about parties, boys, being "seen." The pressure bore down on Maya's chest like actual weight.

"What? Are you scared or something?" That voice. Jason's. The absolute bull of the swim team, talented but toxic, thrived on making others feel small. He'd been targeting Maya all season—her times, her technique, her everything.

She surfaced. Jason was leaning over the edge, that smirk plastered on his face. "If you can't handle the heat—"

Maya grabbed his wrist and yanked. He wasn't expecting it. Flailing, he hit the water with an enormous splash that drenched half the deck.

Complete silence.

Then someone laughed. Then another. Then the whole team was losing it, even the coach trying not to crack up. Jason surfaced, sputtering, dignity destroyed.

"That's what you get for being a massive dickhead," someone yelled.

Chloe was doubled over, hair frizzy from humidity, makeup imperfect, laughing like she used to before everything got so serious. "Oh my god, Maya, I've literally wanted to do that all season."

They ended up at Chloe's house, eating stolen snacks on her bedroom floor like old times. Maya's hair dried into impossible curls. Chloe's eyeliner was smudged halfway across her face. Neither of them cared.

"You know," Chloe said, "I was being a friend all wrong lately. The parties are boring anyway."

"Yeah," Maya smiled, grabbing another handful of chips. "I know."

Under the water, everything had been clear for a second. Sometimes you had to pull someone under to see who actually surfaces with you.