Riddles at the Deep End

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her towel like a lifeline. The August heat shimmered off the concrete, but inside, she felt frozen. Everyone else was already swimming—laughing, splashing, existing like it was the most natural thing in the world. Meanwhile, Maya was hyper-aware that her hair had frizzed into something resembling a electrocuted poodle.

"Maya! Get in here!" Jordan called from the deep end. He was treading water, that effortless grin plastered on his face. The same Jordan who'd moved here three months ago and already acted like he owned the town.

"In a minute!" she called back, lying through her teeth.

A flash of gold caught her eye. An enormous cat—a sphinx cat, wrinkly and hairless and completely unbothered by the chaos of teenagers—sat regally on the pool house roof, watching like a gargoyle. It felt like the universe was mocking her anxiety.

"You know," a voice said behind her, "Jordan talks a big game, but he didn't actually swim until last summer."

Maya jumped. It was Riley, the quiet girl from her English class, sitting on a lounge chair and messing with some frayed cable she'd pulled from her bag.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. His whole 'water polo captain' vibe is pure cap." Riley held up the cable. "This is his old phone charger, by the way. He asked me to fix it like I'm some kind of tech wizard just because I took one coding class."

The sphinx cat yawned, stretching like it had all the time in the world.

"So," Riley continued, "what's holding you back? The water, or..." She gestured vaguely at Maya's hair.

"Both? Neither? I don't know." Maya sank onto the adjacent chair. "I feel like everyone's watching. Like they're waiting for me to mess up."

"They're not watching, Maya. They're too busy worrying about themselves." Riley stood up. "Want to know a secret?"

"What?"

"I still use a kickboard sometimes. And I don't care who sees it." Riley winked. "Race you to the shallow end."

The sphinx cat seemed to nod approvingly as Maya, heart pounding but somehow lighter, dropped her towel and stepped toward the pool. She was still scared, still frizzy, still Maya—but she was finally swimming.