Static in the Chlorine

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, toes curled against the concrete. Everyone else was in the water, laughing, being normal.

"May! You coming in?" Leo yelled from the deep end. That stupid cute grin.

"Working up to it!" she called back, lying. She wasn't working up to anything. She was frozen.

Jordan's pool party. The one she'd almost skipped because parties were basically social torture. But her mom had given The Look, and here she was. Staring at the water like it might eat her.

"Hey."

Maya jumped. A girl with purple-streaked hair stood beside her. "I'm Sasha. Jordan's cousin. You've been standing there ten minutes."

"Maya." She swallowed. "Is it that obvious?"

"That you're overthinking the jump? Yeah." Sasha took a sip of her Coke. "No one's watching, by the way. Everyone's too busy being terrified they're being watched to actually watch anyone."

That was—weirdly reassuring?

The family dog—an enormous, lopsided retriever—barreled toward them and launched himself straight into the pool with a joyful BARK. Water everywhere. Sasha's Coke was history. Maya was soaked.

And she was laughing. She couldn't help it.

"Rusty, you—" Sasha shook water from her hair. "Well, there goes my intimidation tactic. Was gonna say, if a dog can do it..."

"But that dog has zero dignity," Maya said.

"Terrible role model." Sasha wiped her face. "First party?"

"How'd you guess?"

"'I don't know anyone and I'm pretending to text' vibe." Sasha nudged her arm. "It's fine. Leo's been trying to get your attention all night, by the way."

Maya's face caught fire. "He has not."

"He has." Sasha gestured at the water. "So. You gonna jump, or you gonna let a dog show you up?"

Maya looked at the pool—just blue, chlorinated, normal water. The worst that could happen was she'd look stupid. But Leo was watching. And Sasha was here. And suddenly—

"Fine."

Maya jumped.

The water swallowed her, cool and perfect. When she broke the surface, gasping, Sasha was grinning. Leo was watching, actually smiling. The dog was paddling toward her like she was his new best friend.

Lightning struck beyond the backyard—a summer storm rolling in. But that wasn't the electricity making her skin prickle.

"Told you," Sasha called. "Way better than standing on the edge."

Maya treaded water, heart racing, and thought: yeah. Yeah, it was.

"Hey Leo!" she shouted. "Race you to the other side!"

She didn't wait for an answer. She just started swimming.

Finally.