The Pool Party Protocol

Maya adjusted the brim of her baseball hat, pulling it low over her eyes like a shield. She didn't want to be here—at Jason's end-of-summer pool party—but her best friend Priya had practically dragged her by the wrist, whispering something about "putting yourself out there" and "living a little."

Now they were standing by the snack table, watching the social pyramid unfold before them. At the top: Jason and his varsity friends, their laughter too loud, their confidence too bright. Below them: the everyone-else tier, kids Maya vaguely recognized from hallways and classrooms. And then there was Maya and Priya, hovering somewhere near the bottom, clutching orange soda cans like they were lifelines.

"You should go talk to him," Priya said, nodding toward where Jason was dangling his legs in the water.

Maya snorted. "Yeah, right. I'd literally rather die."

"You're being dramatic."

"I'm being realistic. Look at him, Priya. He's like a golden retriever who knows he's adorable."

But then Jason caught Maya's eye and smiled, and something in her stomach did a full rotation. He waved her over, and before she could process what was happening, her feet were moving, carrying her toward the pool's edge.

"Hey!" Jason said, flipping his wet hair out of his eyes. "I didn't think you'd come."

"Me neither," Maya admitted, then winced. "I mean, I was hoping to."

"Cool." He patted the space beside him on the concrete. "Want to sit?"

They sat there for twenty minutes, talking about everything and nothing—video games, terrible teachers, their mutual hatred of algebra. Maya forgot about her hat, forgot about the social pyramid, forgot about being nervous. When Jason's friends called him over for a chicken fight, he didn't immediately jump up.

"You coming?" he asked.

Maya looked at the water, glittering blue and inviting, then at her still-perfectly-dry outfit. "Maybe."

"Come on." He stood up, dripping wet. "I'll even let you be on my shoulders. Fair warning: I'm a beast."

Maya laughed, pulling off her hat and setting it on the concrete. "Deal."

As she waded into the water, she realized something: pyramids weren't fixed. You could climb them. Or you could just dive into the pool and make your own waves.