Pool Party Lightning

The goldfish had been dead for three weeks, but Maya still caught herself glancing at the empty bowl on her dresser every morning. Stupid, really—it had lived a solid five years, which was basically goldfish royalty, but losing it felt like losing the last piece of her childhood self. She was fifteen now. She was supposed to be over things like that.

But tonight, bigger problems loomed. Jake's pool party. The same Jake she'd been crushing on since seventh grade, back when he still had that awkward brace-face phase that somehow made him cuter. Now he was varsity soccer captain and devastatingly hot, and Maya was currently hiding in the bathroom, hyperventilating into a towel.

"You good in there?" her best friend Chen called through the door. "Jake's literally asking about you."

Maya's heart did that stupid flutter thing. "I'm not going out there."

"Dude. You're in a swimsuit. It's a POOL party. The water is literally the whole point."

Right. The swimming part. The part where Maya would have to reveal her pasty-white mid-June body in front of everyone who mattered at North Valley High. Her cat, Mango, would've judged her from across the house. At least Mango had the dignity to not participate in social rituals.

Outside, thunder rumbled.

"That's perfect," Maya muttered. "Storm coming. Party's over. Crisis averted."

A crack of lightning split the sky, illuminating the bathroom through the window. Someone screamed—playfully—from the backyard.

Maya opened the door to Chen standing there, arms crossed. "Okay, look. I talked to Jake. He said he doesn't care if anyone actually swims. He just wanted to see you."

"Bullshit."

"Swear on my life. And Maya?" Chen softened. "Nobody's looking at you like you think they are. We're all too busy worrying about ourselves."

The truth hit harder than Maya expected. She walked out to the patio, where kids lounged in pool chairs and music thudded from speakers. Jake sat on the pool edge, feet in the water, looking up as she approached.

"Hey," he said, grinning that lopsided grin. "I was wondering when you'd show. Chen said you were having a crisis."

"Minor crisis," Maya admitted. "Majorly averted now."

"Cool." He splashed water at her. "Get in here or I'm telling everyone you're scared of getting wet."

Maya laughed and jumped in, surfacing to a different world—one where her pasty-white body didn't matter, where Jake was looking at her like she was the only person in the pool, where maybe, just maybe, she could start being someone new. Someone who didn't need a goldfish to feel whole.

Lightning flashed again, closer this time, but nobody cared. They were too busy living in it.