Signal Lost, Self Found

Maya's palm sweated against her iphone case as she leaned against the concession stand, watching the pool party unfold before her. Someone had brought a speaker, and Doja Cat thudded against her ribs. This was supposed to be the summer before junior year—the summer she'd finally stop being the girl who *almost* went to things but bailed last minute.

She was running through the five stages of social anxiety in her head when Xavier slid up next to her, dripping wet and grinning like he'd just won the lottery.

"You coming in or what?" he asked, flicking water at her. "The water's actually decent. Not freezing like last year at Jordan's party."

Maya hesitated. She'd bought this swimsuit on sale, three sizes too small because she'd been feeling brave at Target but now felt ridiculous.

"I'm good," she said, but Xavier gave her this look.

"Maya, I've seen you in gym class. You're literally on the track team. You're not gonna drown in four feet of water." He paused. "Unless you're waiting for an engraved invitation? Because I can write one on my phone right now."

She laughed despite herself.

That's when Harper—the senior Harper, who'd dated Kai's older brother and had like 8K followers—came sprinting past them, shouting something about a fox near the woods.

"There's literally a fox!" Harper yelled, already halfway across the lawn, her phone in hand. "We have to get a picture before it leaves! My followers will go crazy over this!"

Half the party scrambled after her, phones raised, already recording.

Maya stayed planted. Xavier looked at the chaos, then back at her, and shrugged.

"Let them chase a fox that's probably halfway to the next town by now," he said. "I'm going swimming. You coming or what?"

Maya looked at her iphone—three notifications from her mom asking if she was having fun, two from group chats she was too nervous to fully participate in, and a TikTok she'd stopped watching halfway through.

She set it on the concession stand, screen down.

"Yeah," Maya said, and before she could overthink it, she kicked off her flip-flops and sprinted toward the pool. "Last one in does Harper's biology homework!"

Xavier was already swimming when she cannonballed in, creating a splash that drenched three people chasing the phantom fox.

"You're on!" Xavier called from underwater, and Maya laughed so hard she swallowed chlorinated water.

Her palm didn't sweat anymore. The notifications piled up, unseen and irrelevant. For the first time all summer, Maya wasn't watching from the edge—she was in it.