Summer Pool Ghost

Maya pulled her hat lower, the brim shadowing her eyes like a personal eclipse. The Carson twins' pool party raged around her — music thumping, bodies cannonballing, phone flashes capturing every moment for Instagram stories she'd never appear in.

Her buzzed phone. Another notification from the group chat she'd ghosted three days ago.

*yo where u at??*

*we saved u a spot in the pool!!!*

She typed and deleted: *i'm sick.*

Her fingers shook. Mom's "vitamin" gummies sat heavy in her pocket. The ones Dr. Evans said might help with the panic attacks, the ones Maya had promised to take daily but kept "forgetting" because admitting she needed help felt like surrender.

A splash soaked her sneakers. Jessica Carson surfaced, water streaming down her face, laughing.

"Maya! Finally! Come in!"

The circle went silent. Everyone watching. Waiting.

Maya's heart sprinted. She fumbled for the gummy bottle, hands slippery with pool water and sweat, and accidentally upended it. The orange vitamins scattered across the concrete like tiny radioactive candies.

Jessica's face softened. She waded over, water sloshing against the pool edge, and started gathering them. "Those yours?"

"My sister's," Maya lied, automatic.

"Cool," Jessica said, depositing the gummies into Maya's palm. "I take these too. For the... you know."

The panic attacks. The anxiety. The thing nobody talked about.

Maya stared. Jessica Carson, who had everything, who glowed in every iPhone photo, who made floating in a pool look effortless?

"Really?"

"Since freshman year." Jessica shrugged, wet hair dripping onto her shoulders. "Why do you think I'm always in the pool? It's the only place my brain shuts up."

Around them, the party continued. Nobody was watching anymore. They were just two girls by the pool edge, holding vitamin gummies like shared contraband.

Maya pulled off her hat. Her hair, flat-ironed into submission, sprang loose.

"I hate this thing," she admitted.

"Join the club," Jessica said. "Now get in here. The water's perfect."

Maya's phone buzzed again. She left it on the deck and jumped.