Spinach and the Swim Test

Maya's mouth still tasted like the spinach smoothie her mom had forced on her that morning. "It's for endurance!" her mom had chirped, while Maya had seriously considered just throwing it at the ceiling fan instead.

"You ready for the swimming test today?" asked Chloe, sliding onto the bench beside her at the community center. Chloe had been Maya's best friend since third grade, which meant she knew exactly what Maya's nervous face looked like.

"Nope," Maya said, popping the p. "I feel like I'm going to throw up. And not just because of the spinach incident."

The swimming test. Every summer at Lakeview Community Center, they did this thing where you had to swim twelve laps without stopping to get into the advanced group. The advanced group got to go on the pizza field trip. The regular group? They got stuck watching bull-headed Coach Miller make them do kickboard drills until their legs fell off.

"At least Tyler will be there," Chloe pointed out, wiggling her eyebrows. Tyler was the new kid who'd moved here in May and had somehow already become the most popular person in their grade. He had perfect hair and a perfect smile and had once helped Maya pick up her dropped gel pen, which Maya had been overthinking for approximately three weeks.

"Tyler's probably already in the advanced group," Maya groaned. "He probably swam twelve laps in his sleep."

"Actually," Chloe said, "I heard he almost failed last year. At his old community center, they had this broken cable that kept snagging people during tests. Total chaos."

Maya snorted. "That sounds fake, but okay."

The locker room was humid and smelled like chlorine and cheap body spray. Maya changed into her swimsuit, trying to ignore how her stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. Not the good kind. The kind where you might actually die.

She walked out to the pool deck, and there he was. Tyler. Standing near the starting blocks, looking unfairly attractive in a black swimsuit. He waved at her. Maya waved back, then immediately questioned everything about her life choices.

"Hey Maya," Tyler said as she got closer. "Nervous?"

"No," she squeaked. "Totally chill. I love near-death experiences. Very into them."

Tyler laughed, and Maya decided that yes, this was worth it.

The whistle blew, and they were off. The water felt colder than usual, but Maya pushed through, focusing on her strokes. One lap, two laps, three... She could do this. She'd been practicing all summer. The spinach smoothie was disgusting, but her mom claimed it would help with energy levels, and honestly, Maya needed all the help she could get.

By lap eight, her arms were burning. By lap ten, she was definitely regretting everything. By lap eleven, she was pretty sure she saw her life flash before her eyes, and it was mostly just embarrassing moments from middle school.

"Come on, Maya!" someone yelled from the side of the pool.

She touched the wall. Twelve laps. She'd done it.

She pulled herself up, gasping, and saw Tyler grinning at her from the next lane over.

"You made it," he said. "That was awesome."

Maya tried to say something cool, but what came out was: "Thanks, I might die now."

"Same," Tyler said. "Same."

Later, wrapped in a towel and watching Coach Miller argue with someone about a missing piece of equipment, Maya felt different. Not dramatically different—she wasn't about to star in a motivational poster or anything—but different enough.

"You did it," Chloe said, handing her a granola bar. "Advanced group, here we come."

Maya smiled, and for once, she didn't even worry about whether she had spinach in her teeth. She'd deal with that later. Right now, she was just glad to be alive, and kind of glad that Tyler had noticed her swimming, and definitely glad she'd never have to drink another spinach smoothie again.

Well, probably not. Her mom was pretty persistent.