The Pool Party Hierarchy

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her vintage bucket hat like a shield. The Chandler house party was already in full swing, and the social pyramid at Wilson High was on full display. At the top: Brooke and her minions, holding court on the poolside lounge chairs. Somewhere in the middle: kids like Maya, floating between friend groups, never quite landing. And everyone else, doing cannonballs and trying not to care.

"Nice hat," someone said.

Maya turned to see Jake Montgomery, who was technically dating Brooke but seemed more interested in staring at the water. "Thanks. My thrift store find."

"Cool," he nodded. "I like how you don't care about fitting in."

Maya almost laughed. If only he knew.

Then chaos erupted in the form of a golden retriever bursting through the gate, barking joyfully. It was the neighbor's dog, Buster, who'd clearly escaped his yard. He made a beeline for the pool, splashing into the shallow end with a splash that soaked three of Brooke's friends.

"BUSTER!" a girl screamed. "My HAIR!"

The dog shook himself off, spraying water everywhere, then bounded toward Maya. She didn't even think—she just dropped to one knee and let him slobber all over her.

"Good boy," she laughed, scratching behind his ears. Her hat fell off, but she didn't care.

When she looked up, Jake was watching her with this expression she couldn't read. And Brooke was staring too, actually smiling a little.

"You're good with him," Jake said.

"Dogs get me," Maya said, standing up and retrieving her hat. "They don't care where you land on the pyramid."

"Yeah," Jake said quietly. "I wish I could say that."

They stood there for a moment, the party swirling around them, and Maya realized something: maybe she didn't want to climb the pyramid after all. Maybe she was fine exactly where she was—splashing around in the shallow end with the dog, letting her hat get wet.

"Wanna get pizza after?" Jake asked. "There's this place—"

"Only if you're paying," Maya grinned.

"Deal."