Papaya Lightning at the Fox's Pool

The invitation said 'pool party' but Maya's brain heard 'social suicide.' She stood at the edge of the Fox's backyard—everyone called Jordan that because of his copper hair and the way he slipped through conversations without getting caught—wearing a one-piece she'd bought three years ago.

Maya had spent freshman year perfecting the art of being near-invisible. But something about the humidity-soaked June night, the way lightning spiderwebbed across the distant sky, made her want to be seen.

'You gonna stand there all night or actually get in?' Jordan appeared beside her, damp shirt clinging to his torso. He held out a plastic bowl. 'Try this. My mom's obsessed with making everything "exotic" now.'

Maya peered at the orange chunks. 'What is it?'

'Papaya. Tastes like... I don't know, sunshine mixed with disappointment?' Jordan grinned, and Maya realized she'd never actually heard him speak more than three words at school.

She took a bite. Sweet, weirdly musky, nothing like the Florida Gummies she'd been living on since eighth grade.

'This is actually... okay,' she said.

'High praise from the girl who sits behind me in bio.' Jordan nudged her shoulder. 'I see you drawing in the margins of your notes. You're good.'

Maya felt her face burn hotter than the papaya. 'You notice stuff like that?'

'I notice everything. Fox trait.' He backed toward the pool. 'Coming in? The water's perfect, and I promise not to splash you. Much.'

Lightning cracked closer now, illuminating the sudden, terrifying desire to say yes. To be the kind of person who cannonballed instead of wading in. To let herself be bad at things, to be seen trying, to be alive in a way that scared her.

'Fine,' Maya said. 'But if my hair gets messed up—'

'Beauty sleep is for people who don't have adventures,' Jordan called, already in the pool.

Maya jumped. The water swallowed her whole, and when she surfaced, sputtering and laughing, Jordan was watching her like she was the most interesting thing at his own party.

'Told you,' he said. 'Perfect.'

Maya treaded water as lightning flashed again, reflecting in the pool like silver glitter. She wasn't invisible anymore. She was just a girl in a too-small one-piece, tasting papaya on her tongue, feeling something like possibility blooming in her chest.