The Dog Paddle Incident

Maya stood at the edge of the pool party, clutching her towel like a shield. Everyone else was already in the water, laughing and splashing like they'd been born in it. Tyler's house was ridiculous — an actual in-ground pool with a waterfall and speakers blasting some basic pop song.

"Maya!" Chelsea called from the water. "Get in here! The water's literally perfect!"

Maya forced a smile. "Yeah, just, uh, warming up. You know me."

Truth was, Maya couldn't swim. Not really. She'd managed to avoid it for fifteen years, carefully selecting sleepaway camps without lakes and faking stomach aches on pool party days. But this was different — Tyler's party was basically social suicide to skip. Everyone who was anyone would be here.

She gripped the pool's edge and slid in, staying in the shallow end where her feet could touch. The water felt good, actually. Maybe this wouldn't be so—

"WATCH OUT!" someone screamed.

A golden retriever came barreling out of nowhere, launching itself into the pool with the grace of a cannonball. Right toward Maya.

The next thing she knew, something massive and wet was basically on top of her, paws everywhere, doggy breath in her face. Maya panicked, flailing and somehow ending up completely submerged.

She came up sputtering, hair plastered to her face, while the dog paddled happily beside her like nothing had happened.

Everyone was laughing. Not mean laughter, but actual laughter. Maya's face burned.

"That's Biscuit!" Tyler yelled, wading over. "Sorry, she loves parties. You okay?"

Maya started to nod when she realized — she was in the deep end. And she wasn't sinking. She was actually... swimming? Kind of? Dog paddling, but still.

Chelsea swam over, grinning. "Okay, that was iconic. You're literally fine though."

"Yeah," Maya said, surprised to find it was true. "I'm good."

The dog, Biscuit, chose that moment to shake herself off directly next to them, spraying water everywhere. More laughter erupted.

"Dude," Chelsea said, wiping her face. "That dog is my spirit animal."

For the first time all summer, Maya laughed too. Not the fake kind. And as she dog-paddled alongside her new friend and the ridiculous golden retriever, she realized sometimes the worst moments turned out exactly right.