Poolside Confidential

Maya pulled her dad's oversized fedora **hat** down over her eyebrows, hoping it would make her invisible at Tyler's end-of-summer pool party. The brim smelled like old cologne and awkwardness.

"Yo, Maya! You gonna swim or what?" Tyler called from the diving board, his abs practically glowing in the sunlight.

She waved him off, suddenly very interested in the pattern on her beach towel. No way was she getting in the **water**. Not with her brand-new swimsuit that felt two sizes too small and her hair that frizzed the second humidity hit fifty percent.

That's when she saw him across the pool—Cameron, the quiet transfer student from AP Chem, sitting alone on a lounge chair. His phone was positioned weirdly, like he was filming something.

A **spy**? At Tyler Miller's rager? Maya's curiosity got the better of her social anxiety. She adjusted her hat-brim and crept closer, staying behind the potted plants like she was in some low-budget teen detective movie.

But Cameron wasn't filming people. He was staring at a small plastic bowl on the table beside him.

"Is that... a **goldfish**?" Maya blurted, ruining her stealth mode completely.

Cameron jumped, nearly knocking over the bowl. "His name is Bubbles. My mom made me bring him because she thinks he gets depressed when I'm gone too long."

Maya stared at him, then at the orange fish swimming in tiny, bored circles. Then she started laughing—like, actually laughing, not fake social media laugh-crying.

"What's so funny?" Cameron asked, but he was smiling too.

"I've been standing here stressing about my swimsuit and whether Tyler thinks I'm cool enough to exist, and you're just hanging out with your depressed fish."

She held out her hand, **palm** up. "I'm Maya. I evidently have zero game at parties."

"Cameron," he said, high-fiving her. "And Bubbles says your game is fine."

They spent the next hour talking about everything except getting in the pool—why Tyler's parties were always the same, how weird high school felt sometimes, which teachers definitely hated their jobs. When Tyler's mom announced pizza, Maya didn't even jump when someone splashed water on her hat.

"Same time next week?" Cameron asked as they left. "Bubbles really needs the social interaction."

Maya grinned, finally pushing the hat back. "Tell Bubbles I'll be there."