Goldfish in the Deep End

The chlorine smell hit Maya first, then the sight of everyone in the pool—laughing, splashing, being effortlessly cool. She stood at the edge in her oversized hat, feeling like a fraud.

"Maya! Get in here!" Kevin yelled from the deep end.

"Nah, I'm good," she mumbled, adjusting the brim lower. The hat was her armor, hiding the fact that she was the only junior who couldn't actually swim.

A plastic bag with a single goldfish from the carnival earlier bobbed in her other hand. Stupidest prize ever, but she'd won it and now it was hers. Named him Vitamin D because she was pretty sure sunlight was the only thing keeping her alive at this point.

"What's with the fish?" Chloe appeared beside her, perfect in her bikini. "That's kinda... random."

"Won him," Maya said, then immediately wanted to die. Who says "won him"?

Chloe studied her. "You know, Kevin's been asking about you."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgot how to exist. "Yeah right."

"For real." Chloe flipped her hair. "But you're always hiding under that hat like you're in witness protection or something."

Vitamin D's bag slipped. Maya lunged, goldfish splashing into the pool.

"NO!" She jumped in after it—hat, insecurity, and all.

The water closed over her head. She couldn't swim. But then Kevin's hands were on her waist, pulling her up. She surfaced gasping, hair plastered to her face, hat somewhere on the pool deck.

"You okay?" His eyes were actually worried.

"My fish," she choked out.

Kevin dove under, came up with Vitamin D flopping in his palm. "This little guy?" He laughed, and Maya realized she was laughing too, floating there beside him while the goldfish swam in confusion.

"His name is Vitamin D," she said, and Kevin didn't even make fun of her.

"Weird name," he said, "but I dig it." And then, "You know, you look better without the hat."

Maya floated there, chlorine in her eyes, goldfish in hand, Kevin's arm still around her waist, and thought maybe deep ends weren't so scary after all.