Sweaty Palms and Poolside Foxes

Maya's palms were sweating. Again. She wiped them on her denim shorts, leaving dark streaks that made her want to evaporate into thin air.

Across the pool, Chase was doing that thing where he floated on his back like it was the most natural state of being. His hair was wet and perfect, and every time he laughed at something Jordan said, Maya's stomach did this embarrassing little flip thing.

"You gonna just stand there all night?" Kayla asked, appearing beside her with two sodas. "Or are you actually gonna, like, join the party?"

"I'm observing," Maya said, though it came out more defensive than she intended.

Kayla snorted. "You've been observing for like, forty-five minutes. The party started two hours ago. People are gonna think you're weird."

The truth was, Maya didn't know how to do this. The swimming part was fine—she'd been on swim team since seventh grade. But this wasn't swim team. This was Chase's house, and Chase's pool, and somehow everyone else knew exactly how to exist in this space like they'd been doing it their whole lives.

Then she saw it—a fox.

An actual fox, slinking along the edge of the property line near the palm trees that separated Chase's backyard from the neighbors'. It paused, its russet coat catching the pool lights, and looked directly at her.

Maya stopped breathing. The fox was wild, untamed, completely out of place in this manicured suburban paradise. And it was magnificent.

"Did you see that?" she whispered to Kayla, grabbing her friend's arm.

"See what? Chase doing a cannonball? Again?"

"No! A fox! There was literally a fox right—" But when Maya pointed, the space between the palm trees was empty.

The moment stayed with her, though. Later, when she finally summoned the courage to get in the pool, when Chase actually said hey to her and splashed water in her direction, Maya thought about the fox.

Wild and magnificent. Completely out of place but owning it anyway.

"Nice cannonball," Maya told Chase, and when she smiled, her palms didn't feel sweaty anymore.

Maybe she was learning how to swim after all.