Summer of the Poolside Fake-Out

My hair was absolutely wrecked. Chlorine-green frizz haloed my head like I'd stuck a fork in an electrical outlet, and I was supposed to act like everything was totally fine.

"You coming?" Marcus called from the diving board. He did this stupid little wave that made my stomach do actual gymnastics.

"Yeah, just, uh," I fake-stretched, "stretching." Because that's normal. Totally normal behavior at a pool party where everyone is either cannonballing or flirting dangerously close to each other in the shallow end.

See, here's the thing about swimming: I'm terrible at it. Like, embarrassing terrible. While everyone else was doing laps and looking like mermaid athletes in slow motion, I was busy convincing myself that lowering my body temperature was basically self-harm. But when your crush invites you to his birthday pool party at the community center, you don't exactly say, "Actually, I'd rather set myself on fire than be seen in a swimsuit, thanks."

I adjusted my baseball cap—indoors, because I'm that person—and tried to look casual instead of like I was plotting an escape strategy.

Jada swam past, doing something that looked suspiciously like actual synchronized swimming. "Nice hat, Maya. Very subtle."

"It's my brand now. Baseball caps at pool parties. Next season's trend."

She snorted and disappeared underwater.

Then Marcus was suddenly there, dripping wet, grinning like he knew something I didn't. Which, honestly, he probably did. The guy had more social confidence in his pinky toe than I had in my entire body.

"You gonna actually get in, or are you gonna bear it from the sidelines all day?" He nudged my arm with his wet shoulder and I nearly short-circuited.

"I don't know what that means, but probably the second one."

"Hey, you know what we did last year?" Marcus's eyes lit up. "Before the pool opened. They found a bear in the parking lot. Like, an actual bear. Just checking out the snack bar."

"No way."

"Way. Animal control had to, like, gently suggest it leave. So weird stuff happens here. You're not even close to the weirdest thing."

And that was somehow the most reassuring thing anyone had ever said to me.

"Fine," I said, and started running toward the pool before I could overthink it. "But if I drown, I'm haunting you."

Marcus laughed as I hit the water, still wearing my hat. "Deal."

The hat floated. I sank. And for the first time all summer, I didn't really care what my hair looked like.