Chlorine-Stained Lips

The pool party was supposed to be the highlight of sophomore year, but I'd spent the last hour perfecting the art of holding a red Solo cup without looking like I was nervously gripping it for dear life. My phone buzzed. MOM: "How's the party? Text when you want me to pick you up." Because apparently fifteen was the age where your mom still dropped you off but you were too cool to be seen with her.

I'm not gonna lie — I was lowkey panicking. Everyone looked so effortless. Tyler and his crew were doing cannonballs off the diving board, water splashing everywhere like they were in a music video. Meanwhile, I was wearing jean shorts at a pool party because I hadn't even brought a swimsuit. Talk about missing the memo.

"Hey."

I jumped, literally almost spilled my drink. This girl was standing there — orange hair, like actual bright orange, not the subtle auburn stuff. She was wearing this vintage-looking swimsuit with these little orange slices on it.

"I'm Maya," she said. "You look like you're calculating your exit strategy."

"Is it that obvious?" I felt my face burning.

"Only because I was doing the same thing ten minutes ago." She nodded toward the side of the house. "Come here."

I hesitated, but followed her around the corner where it was darker and quieter. That's when I saw it — a Golden Retriever tied to a porch railing, looking absolutely miserable.

"That's Cooper," she said. "My aunt's dog. She brought him because she 'couldn't find a sitter' but then proceeded to ignore him for two hours." She pulled an actual orange from her pocket and started peeling it. "Want a segment?"

I took it, confused but intrigued. "What are we doing back here?"

"Cooper hates the water," she said, feeding the dog a piece of orange. "Like, genuinely panicked. So we're hiding out until the cannonball crew disperses. Plus," she grinned, "I've been trying to work up the nerve to talk to you all night."

My brain short-circuited. "Wait — me?"

"You looked like you needed rescuing." She handed me another orange segment. "So here we are. Rescuing each other from Tyler's aquatic assault."

I laughed, and for the first time all night, I didn't feel like I was faking it. We spent the next hour behind that house, eating oranges with Cooper while everyone else was busy being too cool to notice they were missing the best part of the party.

Sometimes the water's not the scary part. Sometimes it's the other thing you're avoiding that ends up saving you.