Splinters of Summer

Maya's hands wouldn't stop sweating. She gripped her phone so hard her palm left a damp mark on the case. The invite had said "pool party at Jake's," which already felt like walking into the lion's den, but her best friend Chloe had sworn it would be "low-key" and promised to stay by her side the whole time.

The moment they stepped through the gate, Chloe abandoned her immediately. "I'll be right back," she called over her shoulder, already drifting toward where Jake and his friends were playing padel on the court beyond the pool. Maya stood there in her new one-piece, feeling every drop of water on her skin like a spotlight.

She'd spent two hours straightening her hair that morning, only for the humidity to make it frizz at the temples. Why did she care so much? It was just Jake, who she'd sat next to in homeroom since seventh grade. But somehow, in the golden light of his backyard, everything felt different.

His family's golden retriever, Buster, trotted over and deposited a slimy tennis ball at her feet. Maya bent down to pick it up, and when she straightened, Jake was walking toward her, racquet still in hand, hair wet from the pool.

"Hey, you want to play?" he asked, nodding toward the padel court. "Chloe said you used to take lessons."

Maya's heart did this terrifying flutter thing. "I haven't played in forever. I'm probably terrible now."

"So's everyone else," he said, grinning. "Come on."

She played. She missed half the balls, tripped over her own feet once, and laughed more than she had all summer. And somewhere between her first serve and Jake's high-five when their team won, Maya realized she'd been holding her breath the entire year, waiting for something to happen.

Later, sitting poolside with Chloe as the sun dipped below the fence, Maya flexed her hand. Her palm was blistered from the racquet handle, her hair was a disaster, and she was pretty sure she smelled like chlorine and dog slobber.

"So," Chloe asked, grinning like she knew everything. "How was it?"

Maya looked toward the padel court, where Jake was helping his little sister with her swing. "Actually," she said, "it was kind of perfect."