Sink or Swim

Maya's palms were literally sweating through her grip on the pool fence. The invite said pool party, but somehow she'd convinced herself she could just show up and chill without actually, you know, swimming. Which was stupid, because obviously at a pool party people swim.

She adjusted her baseball cap lower over her eyes — a dad hat she'd thrifted because it was aesthetic, not because she was trying to hide. Okay, maybe a little hiding. Her mom had made her pack a swimsuit, saying she'd regret it if she didn't, and then slipped her the chewable vitamin C gummies like they were some kind of protection against social embarrassment.

"You coming in?" Jordan called from the pool. He was on the varsity baseball team and had that effortless confidence Maya spent way too much time thinking about. The chlorine smell hit her as someone splashed near the edge.

"Maybe later!" Maya called back. Her voice came out weirdly high.

Her dog Buster, who'd somehow escaped the backyard and followed her here, bounded onto the patio and shook water everywhere. Someone laughed. Maya wanted to die.

"Wait, whose dog is this?" Jordan had hoisted himself out of the pool and was toweling off his hair. Water droplets clung to his shoulders. Maya stopped breathing.

"That's, um, mine," she managed. "He's usually not this embarrassing."

Jordan grinned. "Nah, he's solid. What's his name?"

They ended up sitting on the deck while Buster entertained everyone by chasing his tail. Jordan talked about baseball and how he used to be terrified of getting hit by the ball, and Maya admitted she was insecure about swimming in front of people because she'd never been on a swim team or anything.

"Bro, everyone's just here to vibe," Jordan said. "Nobody's watching you that hard. That's like, main character energy thinking."

Maya laughed, and it felt real.

"You coming in or what?" someone yelled.

Jordan looked at her. "Your call. But Buster's already wet, so..."

Maya took off her hat and set it on the chair. She grabbed her mom's vitamin gummies from her bag and ate one like it was a pre-game ritual.

"Okay," she said. "Yeah."

She jumped in before she could overthink it. The water was perfect. When she surfaced, Jordan splashed her, and she splashed back, and for the first time all day, she wasn't worried about how she looked or who was watching. Sometimes you just have to jump in before you're ready.