Catfish at the Pool

Maya smoothed her palms against her thighs, heart already racing before she even stepped onto the pool deck. The chlorine stung her nose as she watched Jake—the guy she'd been talking to for three months on Snap—leaning against the bleachers, looking exactly like his pics. Messy dark hair, easy grin, that gray hoodie she'd complimented last week.

But when she waved, Jake didn't wave back. He was busy gesturing at some girl, animated and laughing. Maya felt like she'd swallowed pool water—burning, choking, wrong.

"What's up?" Chloe appeared beside her, adjusting her goggles. "You look like you're gonna puke."

Maya's phone buzzed. Jake: *hey where u at??*

She stared at it, then at the guy in the gray hoodie who was definitely not currently looking for her.

"Wait," Chloe said, following her gaze. "That's not Jake."

"What?"

"That's Tyler. Total bull when it comes to relationships. He literally told Sarah he loved her then ghosted." Chloe lowered her voice. "Why?"

Maya's stomach dropped. "He's Jake. We've been talking for—"

"Girl." Chloe grabbed her arm. "That is NOT Jake Stevens. Jake has braces and swims butterfly. I've had a crush on him since seventh grade."

The pieces clicked together so fast Maya felt dizzy. The guy in the pics—swimmer's build, never smiled with teeth. The vague responses about practice. The refusal to FaceTime.

She'd been catfished. Or... catfished herself? Some rando had stolen Jake's identity and she'd fallen for it without ever meeting in person.

"No way," she whispered. "I feel so stupid."

"You're not stupid, you trusted someone." Chloe squeezed her arm. "Happens. Last year this girl from North catfished half the soccer team using some TikTok star's pics. We found out because she spelled 'Calabasas' wrong."

A shrill whistle cut through their conversation—Coach Marsh starting practice.

"You good?" Chloe asked.

Maya looked at Tyler (not Jake, never Jake), who was now scrolling through his phone completely oblivious. Then she looked at the actual Jake Stevens—the one with braces, currently stretching by lane three, who happened to be looking right at her.

He smiled. Metal flashed. It was kind of cute.

"Yeah," Maya said, surprised to find it was true. "Actually? Yeah."

She'd spent three months falling for a lie without ever once showing up to see the truth. No more hiding behind screens. No more letting some anonymous stranger control her happiness.

"Race you?" Chloe grinned, already pulling her goggles down.

"You're on."

Maya dropped her phone in her bag—screen down, notifications off—and dove into the cool water, ready to finally start living for real.