Palm Reading at the Pool

The chlorine stung Maya's eyes as she hovered at the edge of the party, clutching her **palm**-sized phone like a lifeline. Jordan's pool parties were legendary, but legendary also meant approximately zero places to hide when you felt like the most awkward human on earth.

"Yo Maya! You gonna stand there all day or actually get in?" Jordan called from the pool, splashing **water** everywhere. His **hat** was backwards (because of course it was), and he had that easy confidence that made Maya's stomach do weird little flips.

"Working up to it!" Maya lied, adjusting her own oversized hat that she'd definitely stolen from her dad because brimmed hats were apparently cool this summer. Not that she was cool. She was Maya, who managed to trip over nothing and whose brain-to-mouth filter malfunctioned around cute boys.

Then stupid Leo had to open his mouth. "Bet you won't jump in with your hat on."

The challenge hung in the humid air like smoke. Everyone stopped splashing. All eyes on her. This was it – the moment of truth. She could back down and be That Girl Who Chickened Out, or she could...

Maya grabbed the brim of her hat, took a breath, and booked it toward the pool.

"Watch this!"

She hit the **water** with an ungraceful splash that definitely sent waves into people's faces. Her **hat** floated away like a abandoned boat. When she surfaced, sputtering and wiping chlorine from her eyes, everyone was laughing – but like, actual laughter, not mean laughter.

"Respect," Jordan said, doing that little nod thing that meant everything.

Maya's **palm** found the pool edge as she caught her breath, grinning like an idiot. Her hair was wrecked, her hat was somewhere in the deep end, and she'd probably just lost all dignity forever.

But she'd also just become part of something. And honestly? That felt better than staying dry on the sidelines ever could.