Drowning in Vitamins

The chlorine stung my nose, or maybe that was just the humidity of the indoor pool complex. Either way, I was regretting everything.

"You coming in or what?" Tyler called from the water, splashing enough to send droplets flying toward my chair. Behind me, the rest of the squad—Elena, Marcus, Jasmine—were already doing their thing, being all effortless and athletic and terrible.

I pulled my baseball hat lower. "Nah, I'm good. Just... taking in the vibes."

Truth? I hadn't brought a swimsuit. Truthier truth? I'd forgotten my gym bag at home because I'd been up until 2am doom-scrolling and my brain was basically mush.

"You're so weird sometimes," Jasmine said, but she was smiling. "Whatever. More room for us."

They swam off, leaving me with my orange juice and my shame and my mom's insistence that I start taking these vitamin D supplements because "teenagers these days never go outside and it's basically an epidemic."

An epidemic of what, exactly? Being functionally nocturnal?

I watched them glide through the water, all smooth motions and easy laughs, while I sat there fully clothed in my cutoffs and vintage tee, feeling like the world's biggest poser. Tyler did this thing where he'd dive down deep and surface dramatically like some kind of mermaid prince, which was objectively hilarious but also kind of impressive, not that I'd ever admit it.

Then Elena swam over to the side, resting her arms on the edge. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I said, way too fast.

"You've got that face."

"What face?"

"The 'I'm having an existential crisis but trying to play it cool' face. You only get it when you think no one's watching."

I sighed. "Forgot my swimsuit."

"That's it?" She laughed. "Dude, I left mine at home like three times last month. Marcus has an extra pair in his locker, I bet."

"Wait, really?"

"Swim team probs, bro. We've all been there." She pushed off the wall. "Come on, the water's actually not terrible today."

And maybe it was the vitamin deficiency talking, or maybe I was just tired of sitting on the sidelines feeling like the world's biggest fraud, but I actually asked Marcus for the extra swimsuit.

The water hit my skin like revelation.

Maybe the real vitamins weren't supplements at all. Maybe they were just... showing up. Even when you felt like you couldn't. Even when you'd rather hide.

"See?" Tyler called, doing another dramatic surface. "Not so bad, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, splashing water at his face. "Don't get a big head about it."