Pool Party Panic

The **orange** swimsuit had seemed like a good idea at Target, but now as Maya stood at the edge of Jake's pool, it felt like a neon sign screaming "look at me." The rest of the party looked like they'd stepped out of a TikTok trend — coordinated bikinis, perfect hair, not a care in the world.

"You coming in or what?" Jake called from the water, splashing water at his friends.

Maya's heart hammered. She hadn't been **swimming** since seventh grade, back when she'd tried out for the team and spent the whole season in the slow lane, coming in dead last at every meet. The humiliation still stung.

"I'm good!" she called back, but her voice cracked. Someone giggled.

Her best friend Chen appeared beside her, holding two sodas. "You okay? You look like you're about to puke."

"I can't do it," Maya whispered. "Everyone's gonna stare at my arms. Or my legs. Or something."

Chen rolled his eyes. "Dude, literally nobody is thinking about you. They're all busy worrying about themselves. Welcome to high school."

Easy for him to say. Chen was, like, actually cute and didn't spend every morning picking outfits that said "I'm trying but not trying too hard."

Then she saw her — Olivia, the queen bee of sophomore year, climbing out of the pool with her perfect waterproof mascara and somehow-not-frizzy hair. She was wearing a navy bikini that looked expensive. Of course.

And then, the unthinkable happened. Olivia's bikini top somehow came undone. Just for a second, before she hastily covered herself, but the whole pool saw. A collective gasp.

Maya didn't think. She just reacted. She grabbed an enormous **bear** pool float that some little kids must have left and tossed it to Olivia. "Here!"

Olivia caught it, covering herself. "Oh my god, thanks."

"No problem," Maya said, her voice steady for some reason. "That happens to everyone."

It didn't, actually. But in that moment, watching the most popular girl in school look genuinely relieved, Maya realized something: nobody was actually paying attention to her orange swimsuit or her arms or her legs. They were all just trying to survive their own embarrassing moments.

She jumped into the pool, finally. The water felt perfect.