Catfish at the Deep End

I stood at the edge of the municipal pool clutching my Vitamin Water like it was a lifeline, which honestly, it kind of was. The annual end-of-summer pool party. Everyone was there. Everyone except me, apparently, because I was fully clothed and frozen.

"You coming in or what?" My older brother Marcus splashed water at me, droplets hitting my legs like tiny accusations.

"In a minute," I lied, backing away.

That's when I saw her. Riley. The girl I'd been lowkey obsessed with since September, standing by the snack bar in this insane orange bikini that matched the sunset exploding behind her. She looked like she belonged in a music video, not at the rec center in Nowhere, Ohio.

I'd been trying to work up the nerve to talk to her literally all year. My problem? I couldn't swim. Not even a little. In a town where pool parties were basically social currency, I was broke.

Riley wandered over, dragging a churro through melted orange soda. "Your brother said you're scared of the deep end."

My face burned. "He's dramatic."

"My cat's scared of water," she said casually. "Mr. Pickles acts like it's lava or something. Climbed the curtains last time I gave him a bath."

I laughed. "Mr. Pickles?"

"Shut up, I was seven." She looked at the pool, then back at me. "I could teach you. If you wanted."

"What, here? Now?"

"Yeah. Everyone's too busy being cool to notice. We could hit the shallow end."

So I did it. I took off my shirt, exposing my pasty midwinter torso, and waded into the shallowest part while Riley patiently showed me how to blow bubbles and float. Somewhere between "don't panic" and "relax your shoulders," I realized I was swimming. Sort of.

"See?" Riley said, wet hair plastered to her forehead, grinning like we'd just pulled off a heist. "You're literally swimming."

"Barely," I admitted, but I was smiling too.

Later, Mr. Pickles would probably judge me from the safety of a windowsill, but right here, right now, I was treading water beside a girl in an orange bikini, and for the first time all year, I wasn't drowning.