Chlorine and Courage

The locker room smelled like betrayal and cheap body spray. Elena stared at her reflection, trying to summon the courage to walk out there. Tonight was the night — finally, after months of crushing on Jake from across the cafeteria, she was actually going to talk to him at Kara's end-of-summer pool party.

"You got this," said Maya, her best friend since sixth grade, adjusting the strap of Elena's swimsuit. "You look amazing. That orange brings out your eyes."

Elena's one-piece was bright tangerine against the fluorescent lights. She felt ridiculous. Everyone else would be in cute two-pieces, not this practically athletic number her mom had picked out.

"I look like a traffic cone," Elena muttered. "Maybe I can just claim I have a sudden allergic reaction to water."

Maya snorted. "Drama queen. Come on, before someone claims the good snacks."

They stepped outside into the humid August air. The pool area was already packed — the popular crowd had staked out the prime real estate around the waterfall feature, and the basketball game had drawn a rowdy crowd. And there he was. Jake. Standing near the diving board, laughing at something Tyler said, looking annoyingly perfect in his swim trunks.

Then she saw it. Jake's basketball jersey from last season, draped over a chair. The Bulls. Of course. Her stomach did that awful thing where it felt like it was dropping through the floor. Elena's older brother had played for their school's rival team — the Bears. The feud was legendary, dating back like three generations of petty high school sports drama.

She froze. This was worse than she'd thought. Her family practically had a blood feud with Jake's entire friend group.

"You okay?" Maya asked, following her gaze.

"I can't talk to him," Elena hissed. "Do you know what my brother would do? He'd literally have a coronary. I'm supposed to hate anyone associated with the Bulls. It's, like, genetic at this point."

Maya rolled her eyes so hard it looked painful. "Elena, you're sixteen, not in a medieval arranged marriage. Your brother's opinions are not binding international treaties. You're not actually going to let sports mascots dictate your love life, right? Because that would be objectively unhinged."

Elena bit her lip. Maya wasn't wrong, but that didn't make the knot in her stomach disappear.

Just then, Jake looked up and caught her eye. He smiled — actually smiled, at her — and started walking over.

"Hey," he said, water dripping from his hair. "You're Elena, right? You're in Mr. Harrison's English class?"

She nodded, suddenly hyperaware of everything — the orange of her swimsuit, the way her hands were shaking, the fact that her brain had apparently forgotten how to human language.

"Cool," Jake said. "I was gonna ask you about that summer reading assignment. I'm kinda stuck on the essay part."

Maya made a tiny gasping sound beside her.

"Oh," Elena managed. "Yeah, I can help. If you want."

"That'd be awesome," Jake said, and his smile was genuine and not at all like he was plotting to destroy her family honor. "I'll text you?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally," Elena said, feeling something light and terrified and wonderful bubbling in her chest.

As Jake walked away, Maya grabbed her arm. "Did that actually happen? Please tell me I didn't hallucinate that entire interaction."

Elena laughed, feeling the tension finally release. "I think," she said, grinning, "I might survive high school after all."