Bullseye in the Deep End

Maya's phone buzzed with another notification from the Lakeview Swim Team group chat. Two weeks until regionals, and everyone was acting like they'd already won.

"They're absolutely shipping it," she muttered, watching Instagram stories of her teammates "training" — which apparently meant taking mirror selfies at the gym.

Maya hadn't been swimming for real in months. Not since the incident with Tyler in the locker room, when he'd "accidentally" walked in while she was changing, then told everyone she was being dramatic when she called him out. Total bull. But nobody wanted to believe the team's golden boy was a creep.

Now she spent practices sitting on the bleachers, officially "injured," actually plotting her exit strategy. Which was how she found herself in the most unexpected place possible: the rodeo grounds outside town.

Javier from her AP Chem class had mentioned his cousin bull rode. Curiosity had turned into weekly visits. There was something mesmerizing about watching riders get launched into the dirt, then dust themselves off and climb back on.

"You gonna watch, or you gonna try?" Javier's cousin Elena nodded toward the practice ring.

"I'm a swimmer," Maya said, then caught herself. "I mean, I was. I think."

Elena laughed. "Was? That's cute. You always are, even when you're not doing it."

The words hit harder than a rodeo clown catching a runaway bull.

That night, Maya did something she hadn't done in weeks: she opened the private Instagram account she'd created to spy on her old teammates. Not to lurk or obsess — but to really look.

They were still talking about her. "Maya who?" Tyler had commented under a team photo.

Something inside her shifted.

The next morning, Maya showed up at the pool at 5 AM. Coach's eyebrows practically shot through his hairline.

"I'm done sitting out," she said, dropping her bag. "And Tyler? He starts keeping his distance, or I'm talking to administration about everything."

Coach actually looked nervous.

Maya dove in. The water felt different now. Not like hiding, but like coming up for air.

She texted Elena: "Teach me to ride?"

Elena's response came immediately: "First lesson: you don't let anything throw you off your rhythm — not water, not dirt, not bullshit people."

Maya smiled. Yeah. She was done drowning in other people's drama.