The Orange Cable Summer

The pool water sparkled like someone had dumped a truckload of glitter into it. Maya stood at the edge, clutching her towel like a lifeline, while the cool blue water mocked her.

"You coming in or what?" called Tyler, already treading water in the deep end. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and he looked annoyingly confident.

Maya's stomach did that thing it always did before **swimming** — a weird fluttery sensation, like she'd swallowed a butterfly that was now frantically trying to escape. She'd joined the summer swim team mostly because her parents said it would "build character," whatever that meant. So far, it had mostly built anxiety.

She adjusted her goggles and took a deep breath.

"Maya!" Freshman Chloe waved from the pool's edge, holding out Maya's phone. "Your **iPhone** was buzzing like crazy on the bench."

Maya's heart dropped. That could only mean one thing: the group chat. The five of them had been inseparable since middle school — a perfect social **pyramid** with Sarah and Jordan at the top, then Tyler, then Maya and Chloe at the bottom. They'd spent last night "voting" on whether to invite Chloe to Jordan's birthday party. (Spoiler: they hadn't.)

"Thanks," Maya said, taking the phone. Her hands were shaking. She'd gone with the majority, voted no, even though Chloe was literally standing right there. Now the guilt was eating her alive.

"Everything good?" Chloe asked, all innocent smiles.

"Yeah, just... my mom. Being weird." Maya's voice cracked.

She hurried to the locker room, scrolling through the messages. Sarah: "Chloe can't know lol." Jordan: "She's so annoying anyway." Tyler: "Maya, you good?"

Maya stared at her reflection in the mirror, at the fraying **orange** bathing suit she'd outgrown last summer. The same one Chloe had complimented yesterday, saying she loved how brave Maya was for wearing bright colors.

Her eyes landed on the charging **cable** coiled on the bench beside her bag. Chloe's spare cable, the one she'd lent Maya yesterday when Maya's phone died at lunch. "Keep it as long as you need," Chloe had said.

Maya's thumb hovered over the group chat. She could stay silent, keep her place in the pyramid. Or...

The locker room door swung open. Coach Reynolds stuck her head in. "Maya? You're up in lane three."

Maya shoved the phone in her bag. She'd figure it out later. Right now, she had a heat to swim, and somehow, some way, she was going to make it to the other side.