Fox in the Deep End

Maya stared at her iphone screen, thumb hovering over Leo's text. *Want to hang?* Three simple words that had been sitting there for forty-seven minutes while she overthought every possible response. *Cool* sounded too chill. *Sure* felt too eager. *OMG yes* was absolutely not happening.

She groaned and flopped onto her bed. Four days into summer break and her social life was already a hot mess. Her best friend Priya was at camp, leaving Maya alone with her anxiety and the oppressive humidity that made everything feel sticky and impossible.

The back door creaked open. Her dad's dog, Buster—an ancient, stinky golden retriever mix—wandered into her room, nails clicking on the hardwood. He regarded her with soulful eyes, then collapsed with a dramatic huff at her feet.

"You're right, Buster," she sighed. "This is ridiculous."

A thought struck her. The municipal pool. Midnight swimming sessions were open all summer. She grabbed her towel and headed out, Buster trailing after her like a furry, ambivalent shadow.

The pool was empty when she arrived, water gleaming under the half-moon. Maya slipped into the cool water, anxiety dissolving with every stroke. Back and forth, lap after lap, until her arms burned and her mind finally quieted.

She surfaced for air, treading water near the edge—and froze.

A fox stood at the pool's edge, impossibly close, coat burned orange in the moonlight. It watched her with curious, intelligent eyes, head tilted. Maya held her breath, heart racing, as wildness met her in the suburban darkness.

Then Buster, who'd been dozing on a lounge chair, let out the world's most pathetic bark. The fox startled, gave them both a look that suggested it was judging their entire existence, and vanished into the night.

Maya dissolved into laughter, the kind that bubbles up from somewhere deep and true. Something in her chest unlocked.

Back home, iphone in hand, she finally typed: *Hey! Sorry, midnight swimming. Tomorrow?*

*Sent.*

*Seen.*

*Bet,* Leo wrote back. *Bring the dog?*

Maya grinned. The summer was finally starting.