The Girl Who Wouldn't Dive

I stood at the edge of the pool, toes curled against the concrete, while everyone else acted like they'd been born in chlorinated water. It was Jessica's sweet sixteen, which apparently meant mandatory swimming. I hadn't brought a swimsuit. Rookie mistake.

Her golden retriever, Buster, splashed happily in the shallow end, chasing a neon ball like his life depended on it. I'd never been more jealous of a dog in my life. Buster didn't care about back fat or whether his hair looked good wet.

"You coming in?" Tyler asked. Tyler, with his perfect abs and crooked smile that made my stomach do actual gymnastics.

"Maybe later," I lied, adjusting my oversized t-shirt like it was armor.

Then there was Sasha—everyone called her "the Sphinx" because she'd sit perfectly still, watching everything with those intense dark eyes, saying practically nothing. She was perched on the diving board now, legs dangling, mysterious and unreadable as ever. I caught her staring at me and immediately looked away, suddenly fascinated by the string of goldfish swimming in circles near the garden hose. Their tiny orange bodies flashed in the sunlight, trapped in their endless loop, and wow, if that wasn't a metaphor for my entire social life.

"You know," the Sphinx said from behind me, making me jump, "water's just water. It doesn't care who you are."

I turned. She'd somehow appeared right next to me, still on the diving board but leaning down, hair waterfalling over her shoulder.

"I sink," I said. "Like, immediately. I'm not graceful like you."

She snorted. "Graceful? Please. I'm just good at faking it." Then she did something unexpected—she cannonballed into the pool, sending water everywhere, completely ruining her mysterious vibe. When she surfaced, hair plastered to her face, she was grinning. "Your turn."

I looked at Tyler, who was watching now. I looked at Buster, who'd stopped playing to watch too. I looked at the goldfish, still swimming in their comfortable little circles.

I took off my t-shirt. Cannonballed in. The water swallowed me whole—cool and shocking and absolutely perfect. When I came up, gasping and laughing, the Sphinx high-fived me.

"See?" she said. "Not so deep after all."