Goldfish in the Deep End

The pool party had been going for three hours when Maya finally stopped pretending to check her phone and actually looked up. Across the deck, the popular crowd was playing padel—because apparently tennis wasn't exclusive enough anymore. Bryce was serving, his arm muscles bunching, laughing at something Chloe said. Maya pressed her back against the lounge chair, feeling like a literal goldfish in a bowl, all glass walls and nowhere to hide.

"You coming in or what?"

Maya jumped. Kai stood over her, dripping wet, board shorts neon-green against his tan skin. He'd been swimming laps for like an hour, because that was normal human behavior when it was ninety-two degrees.

"I'm good," Maya said. "Chilling."

"You've been chilling since we got here. At seven a.m."

"It's called pacing myself."

"You're not even sweating."

"I'm a delicate flower."

"You're terrified." Kai splashed water on her legs. "The water's fine, Maya. Literally nobody's watching."

False. Literally everybody was watching. The padel game had paused. Bryce was definitely not looking. Chloe was definitely looking and definitely not impressed. Maya's chest tightened like it always did around deep water, around crowds, around situations where she might do something uncool and the universe would immediately document it for posterity.

"I don't have a suit," she tried.

"So swim in your shorts and that tank top. Nobody cares."

"I care."

"Why?" Kai sat on the edge of her chair, suddenly serious. "What's the worst that happens? You look like a dork for five seconds? We've all seen you dance at winter formal. You survived that."

Maya snorted despite herself. "Low blow, Garcia."

"I'm just saying—" He stood up, held out a hand. "You're not gonna be the goldfish who stayed in the bag forever. Get in the pool."

The padel game was definitely watching now. Bryce was actually looking. Maya's heart hammered against her ribs like it was trying to escape. But Kai's hand was still there, and the water looked stupidly inviting, and she was so tired of sitting on the edge of everything.

She took his hand.

The shock of cold water hit her like a slap. She went under, world gone silent and blue and weightless, and when she broke the surface, sputtering and laughing, Kai was already splashing her, the padel game was cheering, and for the first time all summer, Maya wasn't watching. She was just there.