Orange Sunset at the Deep End

The orange sundress had seemed like such a good idea this morning, but now, standing at the edge of the pool party where everyone else was in bikinis and swim trunks, Maya felt like a traffic cone. A traffic cone with social anxiety.

"You coming in or what?" Jordan called from the water, splashing water that caught the sunlight like scattered diamonds. Jordan had been her best friend since fourth grade, but ever since high school started, something had shifted. Jordan was now Varsity Jordan, with the varsity jacket and the varsity friends and the varsity confidence.

"Just checking the temperature," Maya lied, gripping her phone like a lifeline.

The real problem wasn't the pool. It was Tyler from the baseball team, currently doing laps with that effortless athletic grace that made Maya's stomach do confusing gymnastics. She'd been crushing on him since September, which Jordan definitely knew and was definitely exploiting.

Across the yard, someone had brought a giant inflatable bear—it was supposed to be funny, this massive pink pool float, but it kept listing to one side like a drunk party guest. Maya felt a weird kinship with it. Both of them, out of place and struggling to stay upright.

"Hey, Maya!" Tyler emerged from the water, dripping wet, grinning like the whole world was his backyard. "Jordan said you're really good at Spanish. Think you could help me with mi tarea?"

His accent was terrible. It was so bad it was almost charming.

"Sure," she heard herself say. "I mean, yeah. Totally. Not that hard or anything."

Smooth. Real smooth.

Later, as the orange sunset painted everything in gold and amber, Maya found herself sitting on the pool edge with her legs in the water, watching the inflatable bear finally surrender to a slow, dignified defeat. Jordan sat beside her, their shoulder touching, just like old times.

"He likes you, you know," Jordan said quietly.

"No way."

"Way. He asked me about you before he came over."

Maya looked at her friend—really looked at her. Varsity Jordan was still just Jordan. And maybe, just maybe, traffic-cone Maya was going to be okay too.

"Race you to the deep end?" Maya asked, already standing up.

Jordan's grin was exactly like it was in fourth grade. "You're going down."