Poolside Sphinx

Maya stood frozen at the edge of the diving board, her heart running a marathon against her ribs. Below, the pool shimmered like liquid diamonds, filled with bodies that definitely belonged here more than she did. Her orange bikini—chosen that morning because her friend said it made her look confident—now felt like a neon sign flashing I DON'T BELONG HERE.

She'd been at Jordan's party for exactly seven minutes and had already retreated to the safest spot she could find: beside the ridiculous four-foot inflatable sphinx that Jordan's mom had positioned by the lounge chairs like some kind of poolside guardian. Its plastic smile seemed to mock her.

"You gonna jump or what?" someone called. Snickers rippled across the water surface.

Maya's face burned. She wasn't running away again—she swore she wouldn't be that girl anymore, the one who bailed whenever things got uncomfortable. But her feet had other ideas, carrying her backward, away from the board, away from the judgment.

She nearly tripped over a glass bowl tucked behind the sphinx. Inside, a solitary goldfish drifted through the water, its tiny mouth opening and closing in silence.

"His name is Bubbles," a voice said.

Maya jumped. A guy sat in the shadow of the sphinx, headphones around his neck, phone abandoned on his lap. She'd been so focused on not embarrassing herself that she'd completely missed him.

"Bubbles?" she repeated. "Seriously?"

"I wanted to name him Sharkbait, but my little sister insisted." He shrugged. "I'm Leo, by the way. Also hiding from the party?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only because I'm doing the same thing." Leo gestured to the sphinx. "This thing is actually solid cover. No one approaches anyone sitting near it."

The goldfish surfaced, gulping air.

"He's got more courage than both of us," Leo said. "At least he doesn't care what anyone thinks."

Maya smiled. Something in her chest loosened. "You think he'd survive the high dive?"

"Bubbles? Nah. But I bet he'd look majestic doing it."

They sat there for twenty minutes while the party continued without them, talking about nothing and everything. When Jordan finally announced pizza, Maya didn't run toward the food with everyone else. She stayed put, watching Bubbles drift through his tiny kingdom, feeling—for the first time all afternoon—like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.