Orange Twilight

Maya's orange bikini felt too bright against the chain-link fence, but Cam had picked it out. Said it matched her personality. Whatever that meant when your personality consisted of overthinking everything and hiding behind your iPhone screen.

The pool party at Jordan's house was supposed to be the event of the summer. Everyone who was anyone would be there. Maya stood at the edge of the concrete, clutching her phone like a lifeline, watching Jordan's golden retriever, Buster, chase a neon pool noodle with the kind of enthusiasm she couldn't fake anymore.

"You coming in?" Cam splashed water at her, grinning that effortless grin that made everyone fall in love with him. Even Maya, still, despite everything.

She hesitated. Then her phone buzzed. A notification from an unknown number: *I know what you saw.*

Maya's stomach dropped. Three days ago, she'd accidentally opened Cam's phone when they'd swapped devices to take pictures. She'd seen the messages—him talking about her behind her back, saying she was "too intense," "needs to chill," "not actually girlfriend material."

She'd felt like a spy. Like the worst kind of person. And now someone knew.

"Maya?" Cam's voice had that edge it got when he was losing patience.

Buster the dog shook water all over her, barking happily. Maya looked at the orange sunset reflecting across the pool's surface, making everything glow like the end of something beautiful and terrible.

"Actually," she said, her voice surprisingly steady, "I think I'm gonna head home."

Cam's smile faltered. "What? But you said—"

"I know what I said." She looked him in the eye for the first time all day. "But I think I'm done pretending to be someone I'm not just to fit in."

Maya walked away from the pool, from Cam, from the version of herself she'd been performing all summer. Her phone buzzed again with the unknown number's message, but she ignored it.

Some secrets were worth keeping. Some truths were worth speaking. And sometimes, the bravest thing you could do at fifteen was walk away from the pool instead of diving in.