Poolside Panic Attack

Maya's stomach did backflips all through third period. Swimming unit. Two weeks of humiliation in a chlorinated aquarium where everyone would see exactly how not-athletic she was. While her friends complained about ruining their hair or getting water up their noses, Maya was calculating how many bathroom breaks she could fake before Coach Peterson noticed.

At least she had her pre-practice ritual. After lunch, she'd been running to the convenience store three blocks away, spending her allowance on those weird papaya-chews her TikTok feed swore would boost energy and calm nerves. They tasted like soap and desperation, but she needed all the help she could get.

"You're NOT gonna chicken out, right?" Jenna asked while they changed in the locker room. Jenna, who had been swimming competitively since age six and looked like she walked straight out of a sports magazine.

"Totally gonna crush it," Maya lied, her voice doing that shaky thing it did when she was bluffing.

Poolside, the humidity hit her like a wall. The smell of chlorine triggered memories of sixth-grade swim lessons where she'd refused to jump off the diving board for forty-five minutes while an entire line of impatient kids waited behind her.

Coach Peterson blew his whistle. "Alright, free swim practice! Show me what you remember!"

Maya's turn came way too fast. She dipped her toe in—cold, obviously—and then just stood there while her brain went blank. How did swimming work again? Arms? Legs? Both simultaneously? Someone behind her coughed, and suddenly she couldn't bear it. The weight of twelve pairs of eyes, the expectation that she should just know how to do this thing everyone else seemed to master effortlessly.

Then Jenna's voice cut through her spiral. "Maya, your goggles are on your forehead, you goof."

The laugh escaped before she could stop it. The tension broke. She pulled her goggles down, took a breath, and jumped in. She wasn't fast, and she probably looked ridiculous, but she was moving, and nobody was laughing. Later, as they ran to grab boba afterward, Jenna admitted she'd thrown up before her first swim meet.

"Even Olympians get nervous, you know."

Maya took a sip of her taro milk tea. "Yeah? Think they eat papaya chews that taste like soap?"

Jenna laughed. "Definitely. Probably buy them in bulk."

Somehow, that made it better.