The Fox at the Pool Party

Maya's hands were literally shaking as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her first real party. The invitation had come from Tyler, who sat two rows ahead in AP Bio and had that annoying habit of tapping his pencil against his desk. But he'd noticed her. Actually noticed her.

"You coming or what?" her little brother yelled from downstairs. "I need the cable back before my iPad dies."

Maya grabbed her phone and charger, her heart already running a marathon against her ribs. She'd rehearsed casual outfits for three days. Too much? Too little? The eternal struggle.

The party was at Jessica's house — which, rumor had it, had an actual pool in the backyard. Maya had never been to a pool party. She'd mastered the art of avoiding anything involving swimsuits since seventh grade, when someone had made a comment about her knees that still echoed in her head every time she wore shorts.

When she arrived, the backyard was already chaos. People everywhere. Music bouncing off the fence. And there it was: the pool, glittering and terrible. Some girls were already in, laughing like they hadn't a care in the world. Tyler was there, shirt already off, looking unfairly comfortable.

Maya immediately felt like she'd made a mistake. A massive, cringey mistake. She was about to turn around, to text some excuse about family stuff, when something rustled in the bushes along the back fence.

A fox. A real, actual fox, with the most gorgeous reddish-orange fur and eyes that seemed to say, "I see you."

It just stood there, watching the chaos of teenagers with what looked like total judgment. Maya froze. The fox tilted its head, then casually trotted along the fence line like it owned the place, completely unbothered by the noise, the social pressure, the fact that it was literally crashing a high school party.

"Whoa, did you see that?" someone said beside her.

She turned. Tyler. He was close now, towel around his neck, water still dripping from his hair. "That fox was totally judging us."

Maya laughed before she could stop herself. "Right? Like, excuse me for trying to social."

"You're not in the pool," he said. "Too cold?"

"Something like that."

He nodded, like he actually got it. "I only went in because Jessica threatened to throw me in if I didn't. I'm more of a 'sit on the edge and pretend' kind of person."

They stood there for a moment, watching other people live their best lives, both of them pretending, both of them feeling like the fox had the right idea. The social animals, doing their thing, while the real ones watched from the edges.

"Hey," Tyler said after a minute. "Want to get food? I think there's pizza inside and I'm starving."

Maya's heart was still running, but somehow it wasn't terrifying anymore. "Absolutely."