Foxes Don't Swim

The water in Maya's pool glittered like diamonds, but I couldn't appreciate it. Not with Jenna here, holding court with the popular kids like she'd been queen bee since kindergarten instead of last Tuesday.

"You coming in or what?" Jenna called, flipping her hair. She'd dyed it blonde over the weekend. The new Jenna. The Jenna who'd suddenly decided our friendship of twelve years was too basic for her brand.

I adjusted my swimsuit self-consciously. "Maybe later."

Truth was, I felt like a dog waiting by the door, hoping its owner would remember it existed. Pathetic.

Liam sat beside me on the edge, legs dangling in the water. "She's being such a fox," he muttered, nodding toward Jenna. "All calculated moves and distraction techniques."

I snorted. Liam had called me a fox once, back when we were fourteen and awkward. Before everything got complicated. Before he became my friend's ex and my secret crush and the one person who actually noticed I was disappearing.

"They're all zombies," Liam said quietly, watching Jenna's crew scroll through phones between fake laughs. "Just going through the motions. Likes, views, whatever gets them through the day."

Something in his voice made me look at him—really look. His dark eyes held understanding I hadn't noticed before. Understanding that maybe he felt just as left out as I did.

"I hate it," I whispered. "I hate that she changed and left me behind."

"She didn't change." Liam stood up, water dripping from his shorts. "She's always been like this. You just finally stopped letting her get away with it."

He held out a hand. "Come on. I'll race you to the other side. Loser has to talk to actual humans for five minutes."

I took his hand, and for the first time all summer, something felt real.

"You're on," I said, and together we plunged into the water, leaving the zombies and foxes and their fake kingdom behind.