The Pool Party Pyramid

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her phone like it was a lifeline. The water glittered with that perfect suburban-blue sheen, but her stomach was doing full-on gymnastics. Above her, the cable from the neighbor's house sagged dramatically across the sky like it was exhausted by all the teenage drama it had witnessed over the years.

"You gonna stand there all day or actually jump?" Ethan called from the water, grinning that stupidly perfect grin that made her brain short-circuit.

Maya adjusted her bikini strap for the fiftieth time. The social pyramid at Jefferson High was ruthless enough on land—she didn't need to add "waterlogged disaster" to her middle school reputation of being the girl who'd once face-planted during the eighth-grade graduation ceremony.

She'd been running from this moment since Jade invited her yesterday. Actually, running was literally what she'd been doing—track practice had become her excuse for everything. "Sorry, can't hang, got conditioning." "Yeah, busy with laps." Her legs were looking fantastic, but her social life was basically nonexistent.

"Maya?" Ethan swam closer. The water droplets on his shoulders were impossibly distracting. "You okay?"

Just then, Blake Anderson—that senior who'd failed twice and now roamed the hallways like he owned the place—yelled from the diving board: "YO, whoever threw my phone in the pool, you're dead!"

The pool erupted in chaos. Someone pushed someone else, a splash war broke out, and in the confusion, Maya found herself suddenly shoved forward. She tumbled into the water, surfacing to Ethan laughing.

"You look like a drowned rat," he said, but his voice was soft. "It's about time you joined us."

The social pyramid didn't feel so towering when you were all wet and ridiculous. Later, when they were sitting on the pool edge, legs dangling in the water, Ethan said, "Hey, my cable's out at home. Want to come over and binge that show you're always talking about?"

Maya's heart did that terrifying flutter thing. "The one with the aliens?"

"Yeah." He smiled, and this time it wasn't the stupidly perfect grin. It was real. "Unless you're too busy running laps or something."

She laughed. "I think I can skip one day."

The cable sagged above them like it was smiling. The pyramid could wait—she had better things to climb.