Poolside Secrets

Maya's palms were sweating. Again.

"You're literally shaking," said JJ, scrolling through his phone with the casual confidence only popular kids possessed. "Chill. It's just a pool party."

Easy for him to say. JJ wasn't the one who'd spent the entire summer cyber-stalking Kai's Instagram, analyzing every single post like a FBI agent tracking a suspect. Maya had become something of a spy expert—learning which posts were genuine versus which ones were just for the clout.

Now she was actually here. At Kai's party. And her palms were so sweaty she could barely grip her cup of fruit punch.

"I can't do this," Maya whispered. "I'm gonna bail."

"You're not going anywhere," JJ said, finally looking up. "Kai literally asked about you yesterday."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it felt like it was running a marathon without her. Kai had noticed her? Actually noticed her?

Before she could process this information, a giant inflatable bear floated past—the ridiculous pool toy someone had brought as a joke. Kai was currently attempting to climb onto it, looking both determined and completely graceful despite the wobbling monstrosity.

And then Kai caught her staring.

Maya's brain short-circuited. She turned away fast, nearly knocking over a nearby table with pool snacks. Chips scattered everywhere. Cool. So cool.

"So smooth," JJ said, but he was grinning.

She heard splashing behind her and then—a voice. "Hey."

Maya turned around. Kai was there, dripping wet, palm trees swaying in the sunset behind them. "I saw you watching me fail at bear surfing," Kai said, smiling. "Wanted to see if you wanted to try? Not that I'm recommending it. My dignity is still recovering."

Maya's palms had stopped sweating. Somehow, in this moment of complete awkwardness, everything felt... okay.

"Sure," she said. "But I'm warning you. I'm going to crush you at bear surfing."

Kai laughed. "I'm literally terrified now."

And as they waded into the pool together, Maya thought maybe—just maybe—some things were worth getting sweaty palms for.