Pool Party Protocol

Maya stood at the edge of Jayden's pool, clutching her iphone like it was her only oxygen tank. The screen glowed with 47 unread messages from the group chat that was literally splashing out three feet away.

"You coming in or what?" called Tyler, doing a backflip off the diving board. Because Tyler was like that—confident, athletic, completely unaware that everyone wasn't born with perfect abs and zero fear of judgment.

Maya's excuse was ready: "Left my swimsuit." Technically true. She'd forgotten it on purpose.

Then Jayden's Golden Retriever, Buster, came tearing around the pool area, tail helicopter-spinning, straight toward Maya's chair. She jumped back, and her iphone slipped from her grip.

Time moved in bullet time. The phone hit the water with a tiny splash, sinking instantly toward the deep end, where Tyler was still showing off.

"NO!" Maya screamed, forgetting all about her cool girl routine.

She didn't think. She just dove in, fully clothed, Converse and all, swimming downward, eyes burning, fingers grasping until they brushed against the cold case. Got it.

When she broke the surface, gasping, everyone was staring. The group chat had gone silent.

"Did you just... full-body dive for your phone?" Tyler asked, sounding weirdly impressed.

Maya's jeans were soaked. Her mascara was definitely running. And she was holding her now-waterlogged iphone above her head like Simba on Pride Rock.

"Wait," someone whispered. "Look."

Behind her, drifting near the pool filter, was a goldfish. A single, orange goldfish, somehow liberated from its bowl, now swimming freely in chlorinated captivity.

"That's literally the most metal fish I've ever seen," Tyler said.

Maya started laughing. Like, couldn't-stop, ugly-laugh laughing. Everyone joined in. Even the dog seemed to be smiling.

"Guess we're all doing this now," said Chloe, already taking off her shirt to jump in. "Swimming party, version 2.0."

Maya looked at her dead phone, at her soggy Converses, at the goldfish that had somehow achieved more freedom in five minutes than she had in three years of high school.

"Yeah," she said, finally really looking at Tyler. "I'm in."