The Deep End Deal

My mom handed me the bottle of orange gummies at breakfast. 'Your vitamin D supplement. You're always inside, you need this.' I rolled my eyes but stuck them in my pocket anyway.

Tyler's pool party was the social event of the summer — at least that's what Maya had declared in our group chat three thousand times. I spent forty minutes picking my outfit before grabbing my beat-up baseball hat and yanking it low over my forehead. Hat on, armor up.

When I arrived, half the grade was already there, sprawled across lawn chairs like they owned the place. The pool water glimmered inviting blue, but I stood frozen by the gate, suddenly regretting everything.

'Yo! Carter!' Tyler waved from the deep end, splashing water everywhere. 'Get in here!' Behind him, I spotted Brielle — the girl I'd been lowkey crushing on since October — laughing at something Jason said. My stomach did that awful little flip thing.

I claimed a spot near the snack table, trying to look casual. My phone was dying, obviously, because the universe has perfect timing. I scrambled around looking for a charging cable like some kind of desperate weirdo.

'Looking for this?' Brielle appeared beside me, holding out a tangled mess of wires. 'I saw you doing the frantic pocket pat.'

My face burned. 'Uh, yeah. Thanks.'

'So are you gonna swim or just guard the chips all day?' She grinned, all easy confidence. 'Because I was gonna challenge you to a race.'

'Me? Swim?' I gestured vaguely at myself. 'Have you seen me compete in anything athletic ever?'

'Exactly.' She flipped her hair. 'Easy win for me then.'

Before I could overthink it, I yanked off my hat and tossed it on a chair. Then I dove in.

We spent the next hour racing each other across the pool, neither of us actually athletic but both going embarrassingly hard anyway. By the time Tyler's mom called us for pizza, I was exhausted and prune-fingered and absolutely nobody was watching me anyway.

Turns out, nobody was scrutinizing my existence but me. Who knew?

Later, my phone buzzed. Brielle: same time next week? Don't forget your vitamins 😉

I laughed and typed back: wouldn't miss it.

My hat was still sitting on the chair where I'd thrown it. I left it there. Some armor you don't need anymore.