The Bear in the Pool

The ethernet cable dangled from the ceiling like a dead snake, swaying every time the AC kicked on. I was supposed to be fixing the WiFi at the community center, but really I was watching Maya practice her padel serve through the window.

"You gonna stare all day or actually work?" Eric's voice made me jump. He was the worst—the kind of guy who'd probably peaked in eighth grade when he hit his first baseball home run and never stopped talking about it.

"Working on it," I muttered, jamming the cable into the router. The WiFi blipped to life. Finally.

Outside, Maya's laugh carried through the glass. Her friends were lounging by the pool, their legs dangling in the water. I'd been crushing on her since September, when she'd complimented my skull ring in homeroom. Three months later, I still hadn't managed more than three words at a time.

"Yo, they need help moving the mascot costume," Eric said, already walking away. "Since you're done here."

The bear. Someone had donated a full brown bear costume—three sizes too big, smelling like middle school gym class. I wrestled it on, the polyester lining sticking to my skin. Through the tiny mesh eyes, I could barely see.

I waddled toward the pool area, already regretting everything. The kids' summer camp was ending, and they'd apparently requested a bear mascot for their final day.

"The BEAR is here!" Some little kid screamed, and suddenly I was swarmed. Tiny humans clinging to my fake fur, pulling at the costume's head. I tried to wave, but the bear arms were useless sausages.

Then I saw Maya. She was watching me, one hand over her mouth. Definitely laughing.

I turned to escape—crash. Straight into the pool edge. The momentum sent me pitching forward, and I faceplanted into the water.

The bear head filled with chlorinated water. I couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't get up because the waterlogged costume weighed fifty pounds. Arms grabbing me, hauling me to the surface.

I gasped, ripping off the bear head, water streaming everywhere.

Maya was there. Her hands were on my shoulders, helping me sit up. She was soaking wet too—she'd jumped in to help me.

"You okay?" She was close enough that I could see the freckles across her nose.

"Yeah," I managed. "Just. Clumsy bear stuff."

She laughed, and it was better than I'd imagined. "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen."

"Tripping into a pool?"

"Wearing that," she said, squeezing water from her hair. "You're kind of my hero now."

Later, sitting on the pool edge in regular clothes while the sun went down, she showed me how to hold a padel racket properly. Eric walked past, shook his head, kept walking. Whatever.

Sometimes the worst moments become the best ones. You just gotta wear the bear costume and fall in the pool first.