The Poolside Oracle

The chlorine hung thick in the humid air, tasting sharp on Maya's tongue as she clutched her towel like a shield. Another pool party, another afternoon of watching everyone else float through the **water** like they belonged there, while she stayed planted in the safety of the lounge chair.

"You coming in?" Tyler yelled, splashing water her way. His grin was easy, effortless—the kind of social currency Maya couldn't seem to earn.

"Maybe later," she called back, hating how weak she sounded.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her mom: *Don't forget your **vitamin** D supplement! You've been inside too much.* Maya rolled her eyes so hard it actually hurt. Typical. Mom was obsessed with wellness lately—kale smoothies, meditation apps, the whole performance. Yesterday she'd made Maya choke down a **spinach** salad so green Maya felt like a cartoon character just looking at it.

"You're not gonna swim?"

Maya jumped. A girl sat on the adjacent chair, reading a book with a cover so faded the title was illegible. She had that mysterious, older-kid aura that made Maya simultaneously intimidated and fascinated.

"Not really my thing," Maya admitted.

The girl studied her with eyes that seemed to know way too much. "You're afraid they'll see something you're hiding."

Maya's stomach dropped. "What?"

"I'm Jayla, by the way." She smiled, but it wasn't mean. "We're all hiding something. That's the whole deal with being sixteen, isn't it?"

Something about Jayla's presence made Maya want to spill everything—how she felt like a fraud most of the time, how she missed her old friends, how she'd barely been sleeping.

"You're like a..." Maya started, then caught herself.

"A **sphinx**?" Jayla finished, grinning. "Riddles and secrets? Yeah, I get that a lot. But here's the thing about riddles—sometimes the answer you're looking for isn't hidden at all. Sometimes you just have to ask the right question."

"What's the right question?" Maya asked, almost whispering.

"Not 'what's wrong with me.'" Jayla stood up, stretching. "Try 'what if I'm exactly where I need to be?'"

She walked toward the snack bar, leaving Maya with her heart pounding strangely. The pool looked different suddenly—less like a battlefield she'd lost, more like just water and people trying to figure it out, same as her.

Maya stood up. Her legs felt shaky but real. She dropped her towel on the chair and walked toward the pool, toward Tyler waving her over, toward whatever happened next.

The **water** was cold at first. Then it wasn't.