The Night I Didn't Drown

I was a total zombie after pulling an all-nighter for finals. My mom literally had to drag me out of bed at noon because she'd promised Aunt Carmen I'd help with the neighborhood pool party. Great. Just what I needed—social interaction while my brain was operating at like 20% capacity.

The pool was already packed when we arrived. Through my bloodshot eyes, I saw him—Tyler Chen, leaning against the fence with that effortless cool that made my stomach do backflips. He was laughing at something his friends said, his dark hair dripping wet from obviously having already gone swimming.

"You okay, Maya?" Tyler's voice sliced through my fog. "You look like you haven't slept in a week."

"Rough night," I managed, internally screaming. Why did he have to look at me RIGHT NOW when I looked like a raccoon that hadn't slept since Tuesday?

The day blurred into fragments of sunburnt skin, chlorine smell, and me trying to be normal while feeling like the most awkward person to ever exist. Kids kept cannonballing into the pool, their screams ricocheting off the wooden fence. I stayed in the shade, supervising the snack table like my life depended on it.

Then Tyler's little brother accidentally knocked me into the pool while racing for the last popsicle.

I went under fully clothed—shorts, t-shirt, everything. The water shocked me awake like nothing else could. When I surfaced, sputtering and dragging my soaked hair out of my face, the whole pool had gone quiet. Tyler was staring at me.

And then—because the universe apparently hated me—he started laughing. But not mean laughing. The genuine kind, where his shoulders shook and he had to wipe his eyes.

"You know what?" he called out. "That was literally the most epic entrance I've ever seen."

Something shifted. I started swimming toward the ladder, but suddenly I didn't feel like dying of embarrassment anymore. My clothes were heavy, my makeup was probably ruined, but I was actually awake. For the first time all day, I felt present.

"Hey, zombie girl," Tyler said when I climbed out. "You coming back in? The water's actually not that bad once you're already soaking."

I looked at my ruined outfit, at Tyler's genuine smile, at the kids still jumping and screaming and not caring about anything. I'd been sleepwalking through so much lately—grades, expectations, overthinking everything.

"Yeah," I said, diving back in. "Yeah, I am."

For the first time in forever, I wasn't tired anymore.