The Pool Party Truth

Maya's phone buzzed with the third text in ten minutes. 'U coming??? Everyone's here.'Pool party at Chloe's. The event of the season, apparently. Maya had been running from this all week.

She grabbed her phone, thumbs hovering. What if they noticed? What if someone said something about her and Jordan? The rumor mill at Northwood High had been absolutely toxic lately.

'Maya!' Her mom called up the stairs. 'Jordan's here to pick you up!'

Her stomach did a nervous flip. Jordan. Her best friend since seventh grade. The person she'd been lowkey avoiding since that moment at the skate park last Friday when everything almost changed between them.

'Coming!'

She grabbed her bikini (the cute black one Chloe had talked her into buying last month) and jammed it into her bag. No way was she actually swimming. The plan: show face, make an appearance, dip after twenty minutes max. Classic avoidance strategy.

Jordan leaned against their car in the driveway, looking annoyingly attractive in their oversized swim trunks. They'd cut their hair since Friday—shorter on the sides, still curly on top. Maya had been running from thinking about that haircut all week.

'Hey,' Jordan said, opening the passenger door. 'You ready?' There was something in their voice. Soft, careful.

'So ready,' Maya lied. 'Let's get this over with.'

The car ride was quiet. Not the comfortable silence of their friendship before last Friday. This was thick with everything they weren't saying.

Chloe's house was already chaos when they arrived. Music thumping from backyard speakers, people scattered around the pool, someone doing something definitely not safe on the diving board.

'MAYA!' Chloe materialized, throwing an arm around her shoulders. 'Finally! And Jordan, hey!' Chloe's eyes flicked between them. 'You guys came together? Cool.' Something in her tone made Maya's chest tight.

'Car situation,' Jordan said quickly.

'Makes sense,' Chloe said, but she was already scanning the room for someone more interesting. 'Drinks are inside. Towels on the chair. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!'

Maya found herself cornered near the snack table by Tyler, who somehow always ended up at these things. 'So,' he said, way too casual. 'You and Jordan?'

'What about us?'

Tyler shrugged. 'People are talking. Just curious.'

Maya's heart raced. This was it. The moment she'd been running from. 'People talk about everything.'

'True.' But he was still watching her, waiting.

Suddenly, Jordan was there. 'Everything cool here?'

Tyler held up his hands. 'All good. Just catching up.' He disappeared into the crowd.

Jordan turned to her. 'You okay?'

'I'm—' Maya stopped. Why was she still doing this? Why was she still hiding? 'I'm tired of running.'

Jordan's expression softened. 'From what?'

'From this.' Maya's voice shook. 'From Friday. From everyone noticing. From me noticing.' She took a breath. 'I didn't hate it. What almost happened. I think I've been pretending I did because I was scared.'

Jordan stepped closer. 'I've been scared too.'

They stood there as the party swirled around them. Someone cannonballed into the pool, sending water spraying. People screamed and laughed.

'So,' Jordan said, 'what now?'

Maya looked at them—at this person who'd been her friend for years, who she'd been hiding from for a week. 'Now we stop running.'