Sink or Swim

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her towel like it was a lifeline. The water shimmered with that perfect suburban-blue glow, and inside, everyone was having the time of their lives. Including Jason. The guy she'd been lowkey obsessed with since September. The guy who was currently shirtless. And absolutely, devastatingly gorgeous.

"You coming in or what?" called Chloe, whose Instagram stories made everything look effortless. Maya forced a laugh, even though her stomach was doing full-on gymnastics.

"Yeah, just, uh, warming up," Maya managed. Which was ridiculous. It was eighty-five degrees.

She'd been planning this outfit for two weeks. But now, staring at the reflection of her one-piece against everyone's cropped bikinis, she felt ridiculous. Like she'd missed some memo about cool girl swimming attire.

Then she saw it. Floating near the deep end like a fuzzy, ridiculous martyr. Her childhood stuffed bear. The one she'd "accidentally" left in her swim bag. The one her mom had definitely put there as some weird emotional support joke. Bear Bear was now bobbing through a cluster of popular seniors, his plastic eyes staring judgmentally at her soul.

"Yo, is that a teddy bear?" Jason shouted, laughing. And Maya could feel it happening—the social equivalent of death. Complete and total mortification.

Something snapped. Maybe it was the humiliation. Maybe it was the fact that she'd spent the last hour hovering on the edge of fun like a pathetic ghost. But suddenly, Maya dropped her towel and dove in.

The water hit her like a revelation. She surfaced, grabbed Bear Bear by his squishy arm, and held him up like a trophy. "This is Steven," she announced to everyone's confusion. "He's very emotionally intelligent."

Jason cracked up. Actually laughed. And somehow, between the bear, the absurdity, and the water sluicing down her face, Maya didn't feel like dying anymore. She felt like she might actually be okay.

"Steven's got main character energy," Jason said, paddling closer. "Wanna race?"

Maya grinned, clutching her ridiculous bear, and dove back into the deep end.