The Chlorine Confidence

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, her toes curled against the warm concrete. The water shimmered like liquid diamonds, but inside, her stomach was doing backflips. This was THE party of the summer—Jessica Hamilton's pool party—and somehow, awkward sophomore Maya had actually been invited.

The social pyramid at Lincoln High was no joke, and Jessica sat at the very top. Her friends formed the next layer, and then there was everyone else. Maya had existed comfortably at the bottom until today, when an invitation had mysteriously appeared in her locker.

"Hey, you gonna stand there all day?" called Jake, the cute junior she'd been crushing on forever. His hair was wet, droplets of water running down his neck. Maya felt her face heat up. She'd been so nervous about looking good in her swimsuit that she'd barely eaten all day.

She'd forced herself to eat a spinach salad before coming, convinced it would make her look "health conscious" and not like she was starving herself. But now, staring at the snack table loaded with chips and pizza, she regretted everything.

"Try this papaya salsa!" Jessica shouted from the diving board, holding up a bowl. "My mom's recipe! It's literally fire!"

Maya hesitated, then reached for a chip. Just as she took a bite, she felt something green stuck in her teeth. Spinach. From that stupid salad.

She wanted to disappear. Instead, she did something unexpected.

"Whatever," Maya muttered, and cannonballed straight into the deep end.

The water swallowed her whole—cool, blue, perfect. When she surfaced, gasping for air, Jake was laughing. Not mean laughing. Real laughing.

"That was actually awesome," he said.

Maya wiped water from her eyes and smiled. Whatever happened next, at least she'd made a splash.