Dead Inside at the Deep End

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her Solo cup like it was a lifeline. The late afternoon sun glinted off the **water**, turning the surface into something that looked deceptively inviting. But Maya knew better.

I'm practically a **zombie** today, she thought, running on three hours of sleep and an alarming amount of caffeine. AP Bio test, soccer practice, and now this—Jordan's end-of-school blowout. All she wanted was her bed.

Instead, she was here. Where Lucas Chen would be. Lucas, with his perfect swing and the way he looked in his **baseball** uniform, the varsity jacket draped over his shoulders like he owned the world. He'd probably be jumping into the pool any minute with his shirt off, because apparently that's what happened at parties.

"Yo, Maya!" Jordan yelled from the diving board. "Get in here! The water's legit!"

She shook her head. "I'm good!"

Kai appeared beside her, out of nowhere, holding two red cups. "Since when do you not swim? Also, here." He handed her a cup. "Tried this weird fruit punch thing. It's got chunks."

Maya eyed the orange specks floating in the pink liquid. "What even is this?"

"No clue. Someone's mom went 'exotic' on the snacks." He took a sip, grimaced. "Pretty sure that's **papaya** though. Taste it and tell me I'm wrong."

She took a cautious sip. It was unexpectedly good—tropical and bright, with chunks of fruit that burst on her tongue. "Okay, not terrible."

Suddenly, a splash erupted near them. Lucas hauled himself out of the pool, water streaming off him in rivulets, and Maya's brain short-circuited for a solid three seconds. He ran a hand through his wet hair, droplets scattering across the concrete.

"You coming in?" He looked directly at her. His eyes were warm, friendly, and her heart performed an elaborate gymnastics routine. "The water's actually not bad."

"I—" Her voice squeaked. Fantastic.

Kai stepped on her foot. Hard. "She's getting in," he announced. "Just needs a minute."

She was going to murder him later.

But then Lucas was smiling, and suddenly she was kicking off her flip-flops, and the pool was right there, and why not, honestly, life was short, and—

The **water** hit her like a shock. Cool and enveloping and surprisingly amazing. She broke the surface, sputtering, and Lucas was laughing, and Kai was cackling, and for the first time all week, the zombie feeling evaporated. She felt real. Present. Alive.

"See?" Lucas grinned, treading water beside her. "Told you."

"Okay, fine." She wiped water from her eyes. "You were right. Don't get used to it."

"NEVER!" Jordan screamed from the diving board, then launched into an epic cannonball that sent a wave crashing over both of them.

They came up sputtering, and Maya was laughing so hard her sides hurt, and Lucas's hair was plastered to his forehead in the most unflattering way possible, and somehow he looked even better like that, and her white tank top was completely see-through now, and she should've cared, she really should've, but—

But she didn't.

The papaya punch had been weirdly good. The water felt amazing. Lucas was talking to her, actually talking to her, about baseball and how he was thinking about quitting to focus on grades because his parents were stressing about college applications, and she was nodding like she understood even though she didn't, not really, but she wanted to.

And somewhere between cannonball number two and Kai doing his impression of a dying otter, Maya realized something: she wasn't tired anymore.

The zombie feeling was gone, washed away by chlorine and laughter and Lucas's smile and the strange, unexpected taste of papaya on her tongue.

Sometimes, you just had to jump in.