Poolside Zombie

I stood at the edge of the pool, clutching my phone like a lifeline. The August heatwave had turned everyone's backyard into a social battlefield, and apparently, this was the weekend's designated battlefield of choice.

"Maya! You coming in or what?" Jenna called from the water, flipping her wet hair. Of course she looked perfect. Jenna always looked perfect, even when she was literally dripping.

I forced a smile. "Just enjoying the sun!"

Truth was, I'd been operating on zombie mode since finals week ended. Three nights of four hours of sleep will do that to you. My mom kept pushing those vitamin D supplements on me, claiming I looked "peaky" whatever that meant, but honestly? The only thing I needed was about twelve hours of unconsciousness.

But no, here I was, socially obligated to exist at Tyler's pool party.

The water shimmered like liquid diamonds, and I watched everyone else float and splash and laugh like they didn't have a care in the world. That was the thing about summer between sophomore and junior year – suddenly everything felt heavier. Every conversation carried weight. Every glance meant something.

"Maya!"

I jumped. Tyler was treading water right in front of me, droplets running down his stupid perfect jawline.

"You've been standing there forever," he said. "You okay?"

And maybe it was the sleep deprivation or the weird energy of being sixteen and at a pool party with someone you'd had a crush on since February, but I just blurted it out.

"I'm terrified of deep water."

The words hung there. Worse than admitting I still watched Disney Channel.

Tyler blinked. Then he grinned – actually grinned, like I'd just told him I secretly loved his band's terrible demos.

"Dude," he said, "the deep end's like seven feet. I can literally stand in it."

I looked down at my cutoff shorts and the way everyone was watching now, waiting. The pressure in my chest felt like too much caffeine and not enough air.

"Vitamin water," I said randomly. "That's what I need. Want some?"

"Maya." Tyler splashed water at me – just a little, nothing mean. "Get in here. I promise not to let you drown."

So I did. I jumped, and the water closed over my head, and for one second I was suspended in this cool blue everything before I surfaced, sputting and laughing and somehow lighter than I'd been in weeks.

"See?" Tyler said, pushing a wet strand of hair out of my face. His fingers lingered for like half a second longer than necessary. "Not so bad."

And okay, maybe it wasn't the deep end. Maybe I was still a zombie. But sometimes, you don't need to be fully awake to feel alive.