Electric Waters

The pool party at Jessica's house was supposed to be lit, but Maya stood at the edge of the deck in her oversized t-shirt, clutching her towel like a shield. Everyone else was already swimming—Jake and his baseball team doing cannonballs off the diving board, the popular girls gossiping on floats, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barking its head off.

"Maya! Get in here!" Jessica called, splashing water. "The water's perfect!"

Maya's stomach did flip-flops. She hadn't brought a swimsuit because she'd been too anxious about wearing one in front of everyone. Especially not with Jake watching. The same Jake who'd accidentally thrown a baseball at her during gym class last month and then pretended like he didn't exist.

Then suddenly—CRACK. Lightning split the sky directly overhead.

Everyone screamed and scrambled out of the pool. But Maya spotted something moving near the fence. A dog—a golden retriever, soaking wet and shivering—was trapped on the wrong side of Jessica's yard, whimpering as thunder shook the ground.

Without thinking, Maya vaulted over the fence (thank you, years of softball practice she'd never told anyone about) and grabbed the dog, carrying it back to the safety of the porch. Her t-shirt was ruined, her hair was a disaster, but the dog was safe.

When she looked up, Jake was staring at her.

"That was... actually really cool," he said, sounding almost shy. "You play baseball?"

"Softball," Maya corrected, wiping rain from her face. "But yeah."

"We could use someone like you on our team," Jake said. "You know, if you wanted to join."

Maya looked down at the dog, now curled peacefully at her feet. Then she looked at Jake—really looked at him—and realized he was just as awkward as she was, just better at hiding it.

"Maybe," she said, a genuine smile spreading across her face. "But first, someone should get this dog some towels."