Liquid Courage

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her iPhone like a lifeline. The screen glowed with Instagram stories of everyone having the best summer ever—everyone except her, apparently. She was here, at Jessica's legendary pool party, but she might as well have been invisible. The water sparkled with that artificial blue that only exists in suburban backyards, reflecting the early evening sky.

'Hey, aren't you gonna swim?'

Maya jumped. It was Leo, the guy from her English class who always sat in the back and drew in his notebook instead of reading. He held out something small and bright.

'Want this? It's extra.'

An orange. A literal, perfect orange, like he'd plucked it from a painting.

'I... thanks?' Maya's voice squeaked. Smooth.

'They're actually good,' Leo said, already peeling his own. 'My mom says vitamin C helps with anxiety. Not that you look anxious or anything. I'm just... I'm gonna stop talking now.'

Maya cracked a smile. He was kind of adorable in a lost-puppy way. She took the orange and sat at the pool's edge, feet dangling in the water. Leo sat beside her, close enough that their shoulders almost touched.

'So,' he said, 'are you gonna check that thing all night, or are you gonna actually be at the party?'

Maya looked at her iPhone, then at the laughing groups of people in the pool. 'Honestly? I don't know how to just... exist without scrolling. It's like, if I don't post it, did it even happen?'

Leo nodded, understanding in his eyes. 'What if we made a pact? No phones for twenty minutes. Just... whatever.'

'Maya considered it. The water rippled gently against her legs. She set her iPhone on the concrete—facing down, screen dark.

'Twenty minutes,' she agreed.

They talked. Actually talked—about nothing, about everything, about why oranges were underrated and why pool parties were basically social anxiety torture chambers dressed up as fun. And when Maya finally checked her phone twenty-seven minutes later, she had three new notifications, but somehow they didn't seem to matter anymore.

Next to her, Leo was still peeling that orange, segment by segment, like he had all the time in the world.