Orange Swimsuit Summer

The orange swimsuit had seemed like a good idea at the store. Bold. Confident. A Maya who wouldn't blend into the background anymore. But standing at the edge of Jessica's pool party, clutching a red Solo cup like it contained the antidote to social death, Maya felt more like a traffic cone than a human being.

"Hey!"

The voice belonged to Liam, the boy whose math homework she'd been accidentally staring at since September. He was running toward her, shirt off, water streaming down his chest like something out of a movie she'd definitely watched on repeat. Her palms went sweaty. Why were palms sweating a thing when you're literally surrounded by a body of water?

"You gonna jump in or what?" He grinned, and oh god, he had that one slightly crooked tooth that made him stupidly adorable.

"I'm," Maya started. "I'm good."

"Boring." He splashed water at her, and the droplets hit her skin like tiny shocks of electricity. The pool surface rippled behind him, catching sunlight in patterns that made her think of those oil spill art projects from seventh grade.

"I'm not boring," she protested, and then—without her brain's permission—her body made an executive decision. She dropped her cup (didn't spill, thankfully) and sprinted toward the pool, jumping before she could overthink it.

The water swallowed her whole. For three seconds, everything was muffled and blue and perfect. Then she surfaced, sputtering, to find Liam laughing.

"There she is," he said. "The actual Maya, not the statue version by the snack table."

She treaded water, heart hammering against her ribs like it wanted to break out and introduce itself properly. The orange swimsuit didn't feel like armor anymore. It felt like skin.

"My friends were taking bets," Liam admitted, paddling closer. "On whether you'd actually get in."

"And?"

"I won." His smile softened. "Also, I've been trying to talk to you for, like, three months."

The party noise faded to background static. Just water, palm trees swaying overhead, and the sudden realization that sometimes you have to jump in to find out what's waiting on the other side.

"Well," Maya said, splashing him back. "You should've just thrown me in sooner."