Summer of the Orange Fox

The pool water shimmered like crushed diamonds under the July sun, but Maya's stomach felt like it was doing backflips. She clutched her iphone like a lifeline, thumbs hovering over Instagram, even though she'd already checked it twelve times since arriving at Jake's party.

"Maya! You coming in or what?" Jake called from the pool's edge, water droplets glistening on his tan skin.

"Maybe later!" she managed, her voice doing that embarrassing crack-y thing. Behind him, Chloe emerged from the water like a freaking mermaid, her orange bikini bright against the blue. Chloe, who had somehow morphed from Maya's lab partner into Jake's girlfriend over three weeks.

The familiar vibration in her hand. The group chat blowing up. Everyone was here except—

"Wild," a voice whispered right in her ear, making her jump.

It was Fox. Actual nickname Fox, because his last name was Reynolds and he was apparently part ninja. He'd transferred in junior year and spent most of it drawing in a notebook while everyone else pretended to care about TikTok trends.

"Nice phone," Fox said, nodding at her death grip on the device. "Bet it's getting great WiFi in your palm."

Maya almost smiled. "It's called emotional support technology. You should try it."

"Nah." Fox flopped onto the lounge chair next to hers, all long limbs and messy dark hair. "I prefer the water. Actual water. Not the digital kind."

He pulled out—seriously, who even carried sketchbooks anymore?—a battered sketchbook and started drawing. Maya peeked. Orange sunset over water, a tiny fox silhouette in the corner.

"That's... actually good?" she said, surprised.

"Thanks." Fox glanced at the iphone she was still clutching. "You know, Jake's been trying to get your attention for twenty minutes. He thinks you're mad at him."

"I'm NOT mad at him," Maya said automatically, then paused. Was she?

"Then put down the emotional support technology and come swimming already." Fox stood up, tanned and gangly and unexpectedly confident. "The water's fine. And Chloe's not that great. She thinks 'they're' and 'their' are interchangeable."

Maya laughed despite herself. As Fox dove into the pool, creating a splash that somehow didn't feel performative, she looked at her iphone one last time. Then, impulsively, she dropped it onto her towel and ran toward the water, orange sunset painting everything gold, finally ready to make some waves of her own.