Poolside Courage

Maya stood at the gate of Jake's house, clutching her towel like a shield. The orange bikini bottoms she'd bought specifically for today suddenly felt ridiculous. Who was she kidding? She was the new girl, the weird one who sat alone at lunch, and now she was about to expose herself—literally—to half the sophomore class.

"You coming in or what?" Jake called from the pool, splashing water. He was surrounded by his friends, all golden and confident, while Maya still had her cover-up zipped to her chin.

She stepped onto the deck and almost tripped over an orange cat sleeping on the concrete. The cat cracked one yellow eye at her, then went back to napping like it owned the place.

"That's Cheddar," Jake said, laughing. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite. Unlike Bear."

"Bear?" Maya's voice squeaked.

"My brother." Jake pointed at a massive guy emerging from the house with a cooler. "But he's cool. Mostly."

Bear, who apparently had graduated last year and still hung out with high schoolers, dropped the cooler with a crash. Orange sodas rolled everywhere, some bouncing into the pool with splashes that sent everyone shrieking.

"My bad!" Bear yelled, but he was grinning. "Anyone want a soda? They're. uh. Pre-chilled."

Maya found herself laughing. Actually laughing. And when Bear fished out a still-sealed orange Fanta and tossed it to her with a wink, something in her chest loosened.

She took off her cover-up. She stepped into the pool. And when Cheddar the orange cat padded over to sit on her towel like a fuzzy guardian, Maya realized something important: nobody was watching her as closely as she'd been watching herself.

Sometimes courage was just a matter of getting wet.