Deep End Summer

Maya's phone buzzed in her pocket—her **iPhone** lit up with another Snapchat from the group chat she was definitely avoiding. The pool party was already in full swing, bodies splashing and music thumping, but she was still standing at the edge in her oversized t-shirt, feeling like she'd crash the social **pyramid** she'd spent all year carefully climbing.

"You coming in or what?" called Tyler, the guy she'd been crushing on since September. He was doing cannonballs with his friends like it was nothing.

Maya's chest tightened. She'd never admitted to anyone that she couldn't really **swim**—not properly, anyway. Just pathetic doggy-paddling while everyone else glided like actual human beings. At fifteen, this was the kind of secret that could ruin everything.

Her **cat**, Luna, would be judging her so hard right now. Luna, who feared nothing and definitely didn't care what anyone thought.

"Yeah, just—warming up," Maya called back, voice barely steady.

She pulled out her iPhone, thumb hovering over the screen. One text to her mom, one excuse about feeling sick, and she could bail. Save herself the embarrassment. Preserve her spot in the pyramid.

But then she noticed a little kid by the shallow end, maybe seven years old, doing the exact same nervous shuffle she was doing. The kid looked ready to cry.

Maya's feet moved before her brain could protest. She knelt beside the kid. "Hey. You okay?"

The kid shook their head. "Everyone else knows how to swim."

"Same," Maya said, and it wasn't a lie. "Worse—I'm a freshman and I still can't properly swim. How lame is that?"

The kid's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Really. Hey, wanna learn together?"

An hour later, Maya was still in her t-shirt, soaked to the bone and laughing as she and her new friend figured out floating. Tyler came over, sat on the edge. "That's actually kinda cool, Maya."

Her phone buzzed again—more Snapchats from the popular girls. She ignored it. Some pyramids were worth climbing. Others? Worth burning down.