Chlorine Kisses

Maya stood at the edge of the pool party, clutching her towel like a shield. The summer before sophomore year, and she was the only one still afraid of putting her face in the water. Everyone else was already in the pool—Jake doing cannonballs, Chloe floating on an inflatable flamingo looking like a Instagram post come to life, and even weird Dylan doing laps like he was training for the Olympics.

"You coming in or what?" Jake called, dripping wet and grinning like he knew exactly why she was stalling.

Maya adjusted her oversized sun hat—hello, grandma chic—but honestly, she needed it. Her mom had made her bring sunscreen, SPF 50, reapplied every two hours, don't forget your neck, blah blah blah. Being the daughter of a dermatologist was honestly exhausting sometimes.

"Maybe later," she said, spotting a bowl of fruit on the patio table. Perfect distraction.

She grabbed an orange, peeling it with aggressive energy. Vitamin C, right? That was supposed to help with... something. Her mom was always going on about vitamins. "You need your vitamin D, Maya, you're inside too much." "Eat more foods with vitamin B, it helps with stress." Honestly, at this point Maya should've just mainlined a multivitamin and called it a day.

But then she noticed it—the spinach green smoothie sitting next to the fruit bowl. Someone's abandoned health kick. She almost laughed. Last month, she'd gone through that phase, drinking spinach everything until her brother told her she looked like she'd been eating grass. Which, fair.

"Maya!" Chloe called from the pool. "Jake says you still use floaties! Is that true?"

The entire pool went quiet.

Jake splashed her. "I did NOT say that. I said you still use a NOODLE."

Maya felt her face burning. Actually burning. Like, she probably needed more sunscreen now.

Then Dylan's head popped up from underwater. "Hey Maya, I heard you're actually a mermaid and you're just hiding your tail."

Someone snorted. Maya looked up, expecting to see them laughing at her.

But Dylan was completely serious. He adjusted his goggles. "My little sister believes it. She says that's why you never go in the deep end."

Maya stared at him. Then at everyone else. Then she started laughing. She couldn't help it.

"Yeah," she said, pulling off her hat and letting her hair down. "That's exactly it. I'm hiding my tail."

She jumped into the pool.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't ready for the Olympics like Dylan. And okay, so maybe she still kind of used a noodle. But as Jake splashed her and Chloe tossed her a flamingo float and Dylan actually smiled for the first time all summer, Maya thought maybe—just maybe—she didn't have to be perfect. She could just be Maya: terrible swimmer, secret mermaid, and somehow, right where she belonged.