Goldfish in the Spinach Dip

The pool party was supposed to be Maya's chance to finally talk to Jake—the guy who'd been sitting behind her in bio since September, making terrible jokes about mitochondria. Instead, she was trapped in a corner with Bianca, whose social media following made her the unofficial queen of sophomore year.

"You're being weirdly quiet," Bianca said, flicking her hair like it was a weapon. "Jake's literally over there."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it felt like a goldfish was swimming laps inside it. "I know."

"Then stop being a total fox about it and just go talk to him." Bianca's version of encouragement always sounded like a dare.

A loud splash interrupted them. Tyler, the school's resident bull in a china shop, had just cannonballed into the deep end, soaking half the party. Maya's best friend Keisha glared from the other side of the pool, mouthing "HELP ME" with the kind of desperation usually reserved for horror movies.

Maya started toward them, but Bianca grabbed her arm. "Wait. You've got spinach in your teeth."

The mortification was immediate and blinding. Maya had eaten that stupid spinach dip ten minutes ago. Bianca handed her a napkin with a smirk that said *I saved you, now you owe me*.

"Thanks," Maya mumbled, desperately trying to fix it without making it worse.

"Maya!" Jake appeared behind her, hair wet from the pool, chlorinated water dripping down his neck. "You coming in or what? We're playing sharks and minnows."

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "Sharks and minnows? Really?"

"It's a classic," Jake said, grinning. "Come on."

And suddenly Maya was in the water, swimming for her life while Jake counted to ten with his eyes closed, and she didn't care that Bianca was watching from the sidelines with her perfect dry hair and judgment. She was just a girl in a pool, playing a ridiculous game, and Jake was shouting "YOU'RE IT" and laughing like it was the best thing that had happened all week.

Later, when they were both sitting on the pool edge, knees brushing, eating chips and spinach dip and watching Tyler make a fool of himself trying to impress Keisha, Jake said, "You know, you're pretty fast for someone who's always so quiet in class."

Maya shrugged, feeling brave. "I just pick my moments."

"Smooth," he said. "Like a fox."

She laughed, and for the first time all night, the goldfish in her stomach finally settled down.