Fox in the Chlorinated Water

Maya stood at the edge of the pool party, clutching her cup like it was a lifeline. The water glowed that artificial blue, packed with bodies she'd known since elementary school but suddenly felt totally foreign. Someone had brought papayas—like, actual papayas—which felt impossibly sophisticated for Jenna's backyard.

"You gonna stand there all night?"

She jumped. It was Leo, wearing that fox-earned grin that had somehow made him popular despite being weird. His hair stuck up in tufts, wet from the pool.

"I'm just vibing," Maya said, even though she wasn't vibing at all. Her heart did that thing it always did when someone unexpected talked to her—raced, then dropped, then raced again.

"You know what papaya tastes like?" Leo asked, grabbing a slice from the platter. "Like someone ate a melon and then spit it back out."

Maya laughed before she could stop herself.

"Exactly. Try it."

She did, and it was terrible. But Leo was watching like this was some kind of test, so she swallowed. "Not awful?"

"Totally awful," he said. "But at least you're not just standing there anymore."

The pool lights flickered on, turning the water into something magical and fake. Kids screamed. Someone cannonballed.

"My brother calls me Fox," Leo said suddenly. "Because I'm sneaky, apparently. I think it's just because he watched too much nature documentaries when we were little."

"Fox suits you," Maya said, and it did—there was something sharp and quick about him, like he was always three moves ahead.

"Come in the pool, Fox."

"What?"

"The water. Come in."

Maya looked at the papaya in her hand, then at Leo with his fox smile, then at the pool full of people she'd been avoiding all night. Her chest felt tight. But then she thought about foxes—how they slipped through fences, how they adapted, how they didn't care about being graceful.

She set down the papaya.

"Fine. But if I get pushed, I'm pulling you under with me."

Leo's grin widened. "Deal."

Later, floating on her back while the party swirled around her, Maya realized something: sometimes you just needed to be a little bit fox. A little bit ready to leap into the water, even when you couldn't see the bottom.