Poolside Secrets

The chlorine stung my eyes, but I kept them open anyway. Third week as a lifeguard at the community pool, and I still felt like an imposter in the red one-piece. Everyone else seemed to have this whole teenager thing figured out — the social pyramid at summer pool parties was as rigid as cheerleading formations. There were the popular kids at the top, then the normies, and somewhere way down at the bottom: me, Maya, the girl who'd rather read than party.

I shifted in the elevated chair, scanning the swimmers below. That's when I saw him — Liam, leaning against the fence near the parking lot, scrolling through his phone like he was waiting for someone. My stomach did that thing where it forgets how to be a stomach. Liam, with his messy dark hair and that smile that could probably stop traffic. Liam, who'd sat behind me in English last year and probably didn't know I existed.

What was he doing here?

I became the worst spy ever. Every thirty seconds, I'd "casually" glance toward the parking lot while pretending to check on the old ladies doing water aerobics. My coworker Jenna caught me during her break.

"You're being creepy," she said, popping her gum. "Just go talk to him."

"I can't just —" I started, but she was already walking away.

A stray cat — a calico with half an ear — had been hanging around the pool all week. It appeared near the fence, and I swear it looked at me, then at Liam, then back at me like it knew exactly what was happening. The cat was judging me.

Okay, fine. I climbed down from the chair and marched over, heart pounding like I'd just finished swimming laps instead of awkwardly walking across concrete.

"Hey," I said. Casual. Chill. Totally not freaking out.

Liam looked up, surprised. "Maya?"

He knew my name.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to sound like someone who asked cute boys this every day.

"Waiting for my sister. She's got swimming practice." He gestured toward the competition pool. "I saw you on the chair. You look bored."

"Only like, 80% bored," I said, and he laughed.

The judgmental cat wound around my ankles, and for the first time all summer, I didn't feel like the girl at the bottom of some social pyramid. I felt like someone who was talking to a cute boy who knew her name, and that was pretty freaking great.