The Fox at Pyramid Pool

Maya's summer was supposed to be chill, but instead she was stuck at her cousin's quinceañera pool party, hiding in the bathroom with her iPhone. She'd been doom-scrolling for twenty minutes when the screen reflected something behind her.

A girl with wild copper hair leaned against the doorframe. "You're missing the pyramid."

"The what?" Maya slipped her phone into her pocket.

"The social pyramid." The girl's grin was mischievous, fox-like. "Betcha can guess who's at the top without looking."

Maya followed her outside, where a three-tiered fountain bubbled like a tiny pyramid in the center of the pool area. Sure enough, the popular crowd—Selena's squad—clustered at the shallow end, phones out, posing. Everyone else gravitated toward the edges, watching, waiting.

"They call me Fox," the girl whispered. "Because I notice things. Like how you've been avoiding going in the water."

Maya's face burned. "I don't have a swimsuit."

"Neither do I." Fox yanked her dress over her head, revealing a sports bra and bike shorts. "Watch this."

Before Maya could protest, Fox sprinted toward the pool and executed a perfect cannonball. Water exploded everywhere, drenching Selena's perfect curls and her phone. The pyramid scattered—shrieks, laughter, someone's iPhone flying into a lounge chair.

"Oh my GOD," someone screamed. But then someone else laughed, and suddenly the whole pool area was chaotic, wet, wonderful. The pyramid had collapsed.

Fox surfaced, grinning. "Well?"

Maya looked at her phone in her pocket, then at the pool, at the disorganized, glorious mess of teenagers splashing and shrieking, at Selena laughing despite her ruined phone, at the way nobody was watching anymore.

She kicked off her sandals and dove in.

The water was cool, shocking, perfect. When she surfaced, Fox was there.

"See?" Fox said, flipping wet hair from her eyes. "Way better than doom-scrolling."

"Yeah," Maya said, grinning so hard her face hurt. "Way better."

Her iPhone stayed in her pocket the rest of the afternoon. She was too busy making her own waves.