Sink or Swim Summer

The backyard hummed with that specific Friday night energy — chlorine and cheap body spray mixed with bass thumping through someone's bluetooth speaker. I stood by the snack table, clutching my **iphone** like a lifeline, refreshing Instagram even though nothing had changed in the last thirty seconds.

"You gonna actually get in the **water** or what?"

Maya appeared beside me, flipping her wet hair over one shoulder. We'd been best **friend**s since seventh grade, back when friendship bracelets meant something and neither of us cared about being cool. Now she moved through parties like she owned them, while I was still figuring out how to exist in rooms without overthinking every breath.

"I'm good," I mumbled. "Forgot my suit."

"Borrow mine. I've got extras." She wasn't buying it.

The truth: I hadn't been in a pool since the incident last summer, when I'd done a cannonball off the deep end and my swim trunks decided to stay at the surface. The video had made rounds in our group chat for weeks.

Out on the lawn, a game of **baseball** had formed with a wiffle bat and plastic ball. Tyler — who I'd been lowkey crushing since October — was pitching, his laugh carrying across the yard every time someone swung and missed. He caught me watching and waved, and I nearly dropped my phone.

Suddenly, something barrelled into my legs. A golden retriever, barking like I was his long-lost human.

"Buster!" This gorgeous girl came running over. "Sorry, he loves new people."

"It's cool." I scratched behind the **dog**'s ears, and he flopped dramatically onto my feet. "I'm Leo, by the way."

"Chloe. You're in Mr. Harrison's English, right?"

We talked about nothing — the ridiculous final project, how **baseball** season was going, why she'd moved here from Chicago — while my phone buzzed untouched in my pocket. Around us, the party swirled, but I was just ... present. Not scrolling, not performing, not worrying about who was watching.

"You should come swimming," Chloe said finally. "Buster loves to chase people into the pool."

Maya appeared behind her, grinning like she knew something I didn't. "Yeah, Leo. The **water**'s perfect."

And just like that, I realized the worst-case scenario had already happened last summer. I'd survived. So I kicked off my sandals, grabbed Chloe's hand, and let the **dog** lead us both into the shallow end, fully clothed, while Tyler cheered from the pitchers mound and my **iphone** sat safely on a table, somewhere between me and whoever I used to be.