Lightning in the Deep End

The summer before sophomore year, I somehow got invited to Jessica Martinez's pool party. This was huge. Jessica was basically the pyramid top of our school's social hierarchy—beautiful, popular, and genuinely nice, which was annoying because it made disliking her impossible.

I stood by the snack table, nursing a warm soda, when lightning cracked across the sky. Everyone squealed and ran toward the patio cover. Everyone except Tyler Chen, who was still swimming laps in the deep end like he was training for the Olympics or something.

"Someone should get him out," Jessica said, looking concerned.

"I've got it," I volunteered, because apparently my brain had stopped working. I marched toward the pool, trying to look confident instead of like I was about to have a panic attack.

Tyler climbed out, dripping wet, grinning like he'd just won gold. "Thanks, man. Didn't even notice the storm."

We stood there awkwardly. Then I saw it—behind him, poolside, an inflatable sphinx floatie. Because of course the richest girl in school had an Egyptian-themed pool party with a giant plastic sphinx.

"You thinking about going for a ride?" Tyler asked, following my gaze.

"No, I—"

"Go on. I'll bear witness."

I don't know what came over me. Maybe it was the way he smiled, or how his wet hair kept falling into his eyes, or how I'd spent the entire year being invisible and suddenly someone saw me. I climbed onto the sphinx like it was a throne.

And then my swim trunks got caught on something.

The sphinx tipped. I tumbled sideways into the pool with the grace of a baby giraffe learning to walk. When I surfaced, gasping and spluttering, everyone was staring.

Jessica was laughing. Not mean laughing—genuine, head-back laughing. Tyler was grinning.

"That was legendary," he said, extending a hand to pull me up. "Ten out of ten, no notes."

The next day at school, people actually said hi to me. Not because I was cool now, but because I'd done something so uncool it somehow looped back around to being brave.

I texted Tyler that night. He responded with a sphinx emoji and asked if I wanted to go swimming sometime.

Sometimes the best moments aren't the ones we plan. They're the ones where we take the plunge, make fools of ourselves, and find out the water isn't so scary after all.