Shark Shadow at Sunset Pool

The invitation sat on my phone screen for twenty minutes before Jordan finally snatched it from my hands.

"You're actually overthinking this? It's Kai's pool party, not the SATs."

I stared at my sweaty palms, wishing they'd stop betraying me every time I got nervous. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who almost drowned at the Y last summer."

Jordan rolled their eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. "That was like, two feet of water. Besides, Kai's got that massive infinity pool. You can literally stand up anywhere."

Still. Swimming in front of half the sophomore class wasn't exactly my idea of a chill Friday.

By the time we got to Kai's place, the party was already popping. Palm trees lined the pool, dropping fronds into the water like nobody cared. Someone's Spotify playlist was bumping, and I spotted Kai's crew—the ones who always sat together at lunch, the ones I'd been trying to impress since school started.

I parked myself on a lounge chair, Jordan's cap pulled low over my face like armor. My hat had become my safe space. If people couldn't see my eyes, they couldn't see me freaking out.

"Yo!" Kai appeared, dripping wet and grinning. "You gonna join or just supervise?"

Before I could come up with a good excuse, Jordan shoved me toward the pool steps. The water felt ridiculous, like bathwater, and I inched down until it hit my waist.

Then it happened—someone screamed "BULL SHARK!" and chaos erupted. People scrambled everywhere, splashing and shouting, and I got pushed under by, like, three different people trying to escape the jaws of death.

I popped up, heart hammering, to find Kai laughing their butt off on the pool edge. "That was WILD. You should've seen your face, Cass."

"Not cool," I spit water, but I was kinda smiling too.

"My bad, my bad." Kai jumped back in, splashing me. "But hey, you're actually swimming now. And you didn't die. Progress?"

I looked around—Jordan was giving me a thumbs-up, and I realized my palms weren't sweating anymore. Maybe it wasn't about being confident or cool or whatever. Maybe it was just about jumping in before you could talk yourself out of it.

"Fine," I said, pushing my soaking hat back on. "But next time, no shark jokes."

"Deal." Kai grinned. "Welcome to the deep end, Cass."