Goldfish in the Deep End

Maya stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, picking a piece of **spinach** from between her front teeth. How long had it been there? The entire conversation with Tyler while he was explaining his swimming technique? Perfect.

She smoothed her dark **hair** into a ponytail and applied another layer of waterproof mascara. Tonight was Jason's pool party — the social event of the summer, and she'd been stressing about it for literally two weeks. Her older brother said she was overthinking it, but he didn't understand that at fifteen, one wrong move could ruin your entire high school reputation before sophomore year even started.

"Maya! Your **dog** is barking at the neighbor's cat again!" her mom called from downstairs.

She grabbed her towel and headed out. Buster, their chaotic golden retriever mix, was indeed creating a scene. But when she opened the front door, she found something worse: Buster had somehow gotten into the Hendersons' yard next door and was proudly carrying their pet **goldfish** bowl in his mouth, fish still inside, sloshing water everywhere.

"Buster, NO!"

The ensuing chaos made her late. By the time she arrived at Jason's house, the party was in full swing. Girls in bikinis she didn't recognize were lounging by the **pool**, laughing at something someone said. Tyler waved from the shallow end, looking unfairly good with wet hair plastered to his forehead.

"Maya! Finally!" Jason called. "Perfect timing — we're playing chicken fight. You're with Tyler."

Her stomach did that flippy thing. "Oh, cool. Cool cool cool."

She'd never played chicken fight before. The basics: one person sits on another's shoulders, trying to knock over other pairs. Tyler lifted her easily, his hands steadying her legs as she settled on his shoulders.

"Ready?" he asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"So ready."

They won three rounds before Maya's strap snapped. Her top slid down as she toppled backward into the water, surfacing to universal gasps and someone's "OMG!"

But Tyler was there immediately, handing her his t-shirt. "You good?"

"My life is over," she groaned, pulling on his shirt that smelled like chlorine and something woodsy.

"Nah," he said, grinning. "This'll be legendary by Monday. Besides, you absolutely crushed Sarah and Jessica. They've been annoying everyone all summer."

Maya blinked. "Wait, you wanted them to lose?"

"Everyone did." He splashed water at her. "You're basically a hero."

She laughed — really laughed — for the first time all night. The spinach incident, the goldfish disaster, the wardrobe malfunction — somehow it was all going to be okay. Maybe high school wasn't as scary as she'd built it up in her head.

"Next round?" she asked. "And Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

"Check my teeth before we start."