Saltwater & Second Chances

The Hawaiian resort pool party was absolute chaos. Tyler's older cousin Kai had dragged him along, and now Tyler was stuck awkwardly holding a papaya martina (virgin, thank you very much) while trying to look like he belonged.

"Just go talk to her," Kai said, shoving Tyler toward the girl sitting alone under a palm tree. She was reading a paperback, ignoring everyone.

Tyler's palms were sweating. Literally sweating. This was so cringe. But Kai was already walking away, leaving him stranded.

The girl looked up as Tyler approached. "You're blocking my sun."

"Oh. Sorry." Tyler started to step back.

"I'm kidding. Sit." She moved her book. "I'm Malia."

"Tyler." He sat, his heart running a marathon against his ribs.

They talked for twenty minutes about everything and nothing—school, how weird family vacations were, why pineapple on pizza was actually valid. Tyler forgot about being awkward, forgot about the party noise, forgot about everything except Malia's laugh and how the sun caught the gold flecks in her eyes.

Then Kai's voice cut through. "Yo Tyler! Chicken fight in the water! Now!"

Malia raised an eyebrow. "Chicken fight? Seriously?"

Tyler stood up. "Wanna join? We can team up."

She considered it for exactly two seconds before grinning. "Let's do it."

They waded into the pool, Tyler on Malia's shoulders as she laughed, completely dominating every round. By the time they collapsed onto pool chairs, dripping and exhausted, Tyler's phone had three new notifications from friends back home asking where the heck he'd been all day.

"Worth it," he told Malia.

"Yeah," she agreed, and something in the way she said it made Tyler think this wasn't just a vacation thing.

Later that night, sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in, Malia showed him how Hawaiians traditionally crack open a papaya with their hands. Tyler failed spectacularly, seeds everywhere, but she didn't laugh at him. Not really.

"We'll try again tomorrow," she said. "If you're not busy running away from me."

"Not running anywhere," Tyler promised, and for the first time all week, he meant it.