Diving In

Maya stared at the shimmering blue surface of the pool, chlorine stinging her nose. Everyone else was already in, laughing and splashing like this was just another Friday hang. But her feet felt glued to the concrete.

"You coming?" Liam called from the deep end. He was treading water, that stupid perfect grin plastered across his face. The one that made her stomach do backflips and her brain short-circuit.

"Uh, yeah! Just, you know, warming up." She gestured vaguely at her nonexistent stretches. Meanwhile her little brother's dog—this ancient Golden Retriever named Barnaby who'd belonged to their grandma before she passed—was currently barking at the pool filter from the safety of the patio furniture. Good to know at least one creature understood the danger here.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her mom: Don't forget to eat something healthy! There's leftover spinach salad in the fridge! Maya rolled her eyes so hard it actually hurt. Classic Mom moment—she was at a PARTY, not a nutrition seminar. But then again, this was also the woman who'd somehow managed to pack organic baby carrots in her emergency college survival kit, so.

"Yo, you good?" Maya jumped. Liam had swum over and was now resting his arms on the pool deck, way too close. Water droplets clung to his eyelashes.

"Yeah! I'm—I'm good. Just thinking about how my charging cable is at 15% battery and I left my portable charger at home." Why did she say that? WHY? That was possibly the most awkward thing she'd ever said, and she once accidentally called her teacher "mom" during a presentation.

Liam laughed, but like, in a nice way? "Bro, same. My phone literally died on the way here. Had to Google Maps using Jordan's like a caveman."

The sun was beating down now. Maya's oversized t-shirt suddenly felt like a furnace. She could keep making excuses, keep standing here like a weirdo while everyone else actually LIVED their lives, or...

She pulled off her t-shirt. Her bikini was modest—black, nothing crazy—but her hands still shook.

Liam didn't stare. He just splashed a little water at her feet. "Finally. Took you long enough."

Maya jumped in. The water was shockingly cold, then perfect. She surfaced, sputtering, to find Liam grinning at her. "See? Not so bad, right?"

"Yeah," she said, treading water beside him. "Actually, it's kinda nice."

Barnaby barked approvingly from the patio.

Her phone could wait. The spinach salad could wait. Right now, Maya was exactly where she was supposed to be.