Surface Tension

Maya stood at the edge of the pool party, clutching her dad's oversized baseball **hat** like a security blanket. The Liams and Chloes of Roosevelt High were already doing cannonballs, their laughter echoing across the water while she adjusted the brim for the fiftieth time.

"Hey! Four-Eyes!" someone called. Not mean, just... loud. Tyler's golden retriever, Buster, had emerged from somewhere and was now shaking water directly onto Maya's white Converse. The **dog** looked ridiculously proud of himself.

"Buster, no!" Tyler appeared, shirt already plastered to his abs. "Sorry, he's obsessed with splashing people who look like they're overthinking it."

Maya almost smiled. Almost.

The problem wasn't the water. It was the swimsuit situation—specifically, how her body had decided to develop unevenly over summer break, and how everyone would absolutely notice the second she took off her cover-up. The hat was her armor, her excuse to stay on the sidelines where things were safe and horizontal.

"Wanna meet his sworn enemy?" Tyler asked unexpectedly.

"...His sworn enemy?"

"The **pool** vacuum. He thinks it's a sea monster. Watch." Tyler whistled, and Buster tore toward the automatic cleaner like it had personally offended his ancestors.

Maya laughed despite herself.

"You coming in or what?" A gaggle of girls had gathered near the diving board. Chloe waved. "We're doing chicken fights if you wanna—oh wait, never mind, you're probably too cool for that."

It was the bait. Maya knew it was bait. But something about the way Buster was now barking triumphantly at the defeated pool cleaner—like he'd personally saved them all from certain doom—made her think maybe that's what being brave looked like. Not big fearlessness. Just stupid, messy, unglamorous courage.

She dropped the hat on a lounge chair.

"Count me in," Maya said, sliding off her cover-up.

Nobody stared. Nobody whispered. Chloe just tossed her a hair tie. "You're on my team. Try not to drown me, yeah?"

Maya dove in, the water shocking her skin, and somewhere behind her, Buster barked at his victory like he'd known she'd do it all along.