Chlorine & Papaya Hearts

Lena's palms sweated against the papaya she'd been clutching for twenty minutes. The fruit sat there like a neon alien in her hand, conspicuous and weird—exactly how she felt.

"You gonna eat that, or just stare lovingly at it?" Marcus asked, dropping his baseball gear onto the pool deck with a clatter that made everyone glance over. Including Chloe, who looked like she'd been poured into her bikini instead of wearing it.

Lena's face burned. "My mom grows them. She thought I'd share."

"Weirdly thoughtful," Marcus said, but he was grinning. He stripped off his shirt and Lena forgot how to breathe. The pool water rippled as others jumped in, screams and laughter erupting, but Lena felt paralyzed by the lounge chair like it had grown spikes.

"Come on!" someone yelled.

She couldn't. Not with her scars—not like this. Not when Chloe was floating effortlessly, hair fanned out like a mermaid, while Marcus cannonballed beside her, surfacing with water plastering his hair to his forehead.

Lena edged toward the pool steps, testing the water with her toes. Cold. Perfect excuse to bail.

Then Marcus was there, splashing over. "Try the papaya first. It's basically nature's Gatorade."

He sliced it open with a pocket knife like he'd done this a million times, handed her a wedge. Juice dripped down her wrist, sticky and sweet. He took one himself and hummed appreciatively, watching her over the fruit's sunset flesh.

"My grandpa says baseball players eat this for good luck," he said softly, just to her. "Before games. Like, secretly."

Lena blinked. "Secretly?"

"Don't tell anyone." He grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Wanna know what else is secret?"

She nodded, heart hammering against her ribs.

"I can't really swim." His ears turned red. "I just fake it. Shallow end only."

Lena stared at him, then at the papaya in her hand, then back at his sheepish expression. She burst out laughing, and Marcus laughed too, and suddenly they were both laughing, leaning against the pool edge while everyone else swam like fish.

"Teach me?" she asked.

"Only if you share the papaya," he said.

"Deal."

The water waited, but for the first time, Lena wasn't scared to jump in.