Saltwater Static

Maya's palms were sweating — the kind of nervous sweat that made gripping anything impossible. She stood at the edge of Jessica's pool party, clutching her phone like a lifeline, the frayed charging cable tangled around her fingers. This was supposed to be the summer before sophomore year, the summer she finally became Someone Who Mattered, but mostly she was just Someone Who Stood Near The Snack Table Trying To Look Busy.

"You okay?" Someone asked.

Maya jumped. It was Leo, that quiet kid from AP Bio who always sat in the back. His hair was wet, droplets running down his neck like he'd just come up for air.

"Fine," Maya said, too quickly. "Just... waiting for my friend."

Lie. Her actual friend, Chloe, had ditched her five minutes ago to play volleyball with the popular crowd. The betrayal stung more than Maya wanted to admit.

Leo nodded like he believed her anyway. "I'm Leo."

"Maya."

They stood there awkwardly for approximately seven years. Maya's phone buzzed — a text from Chloe: *sorry this is awkward u can go if u want*

Maya's thumb hovered over the screen. Then her phone slipped.

It happened in slow motion. The phone splashed into the pool, sinking into the chlorinated blue depths. Maya gasped, her phone, her everything, her escape hatch, her connection to the world —

Leo was already moving. He dove in, slicing through the water with practiced ease, and resurfaced a second later, dripping wet, holding her phone like a prize fish.

"This yours?" He grinned.

Maya stared at him, at the water running from his hair, at the phone in his hand. And then she was laughing, actually laughing, for the first time all night.

"That was the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me," she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Nah," Leo said, shaking water from his ears like a dog. "Last week I tripped over my own feet in the cafeteria and spilled an entire tray of lasagna on myself. This is nothing."

He held out her phone. She took it, their fingers brushing, and for a second, Maya forgot about Chloe, forgot about being Someone Who Mattered, forgot about everything except that Leo's eyes were the exact color of the pool water and he'd just dove in after her phone like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"So," Leo said, "you wanna get food? They have those mini pizzas."

Maya looked at her wet phone, then at the real, actual human standing in front of her, water still dripping from his hair.

"Yeah," she said. "I'd like that."