Sphinx at the Deep End

The iPhone vibrated in my hand like a nervous heartbeat. Chloe's Egypt-themed pool party glittered before me—gold streamers, palm fronds everywhere, and a massive plastic sphinx decoration glaring judgmentally from the deep end.

"You coming in or what?" Marcus called, doing a cannonball that sent water cascading over the deck. He made it look easy. Everything looked easy for Marcus.

My phone buzzed again. *u coming?* from Jada. *why aren't you answering?*

I clutched the iPhone tighter. Stupid social battery. Stupid overthinking. Just get in the pool, I told myself. Be normal for once.

Then Kelsey bumped into me—hard.

My phone slipped from my fingers like a soap bubble, hitting the water with a tiny plop. Time went all slow-movie mode. I watched it sink through the blue, pastMarcus's legs, down into the shadows near the sphinx's painted plastic paws.

"Oh my god," Kelsey said, not sounding sorry at all. "Your parents are gonna kill you."

I jumped in. The water shocked my skin, but I kept diving, fingers searching through the cloudy blue. Past everyone's legs, deeper, until my lungs burned. And there it was—glowing faintly through the murk, resting right against the sphinx's weird smile.

I grabbed it and shot to the surface, gasping.

Everyone stared.

"Did you just dive-bomb for your phone?" Marcus asked, sounding almost impressed.

I wiped water from my eyes. My phone screen flickered—somehow still working, displaying Jada's text: *screw them, come hang with us instead.*

"Yeah," I said, treading water. "I guess I did."

The sphinx seemed to wink at me from underwater.

"That's actually kinda legendary," Kelsey admitted.

For the first time all night, my shoulders relaxed. Maybe fitting in wasn't about pretending to be someone else. Maybe it was about diving headfirst into the awkward moments and seeing who stuck around.

"Who wants to play chicken fight?" I asked.

Marcus grinned. "You're on."