The Poolside Pyramid Scheme

The padel court at country club was basically sacred ground. That's where the Pyramid sat at the top of every social hierarchy — Tyler, with his stupid perfect hair and his dad's membership that everyone pretended wasn't a thing. I was somewhere in the Pyramid's basement, likely beneath the pool deck itself.

"You coming?" Maya asked, flipping her hair. She'd been climbing the Pyramid all summer, one strategic Instagram post at a time.

"Pass," I said, though my stomach did that pathetic little flip it always did when anyone actually noticed me. "Not really feeling the whole 'stand around watching Tyler miss easy shots' vibe today."

She rolled her eyes and disappeared toward the courts.

The truth was, I couldn't afford the lessons. Couldn't afford the cute padel outfit or the matching water bottle that everyone seemed to have. My mom worked two jobs, and here I was, pretending to fit in at a place where monthly dues cost more than her car.

I ended up at the pool instead, floating on my back and watching the sky turn that particular shade of pink that only happens when you're fifteen and feel like everything is ending or beginning, you can never tell which.

"You're blocking the ladder," someone said.

I flipped over. It was Tyler's little brother, Sam, who was somehow both part of the Pyramid and not. A paradox in a tank top.

"Sorry," I said, treading water.

"No, stay." He sat on the edge, feet dangling in. "They're all being annoying anyway. Tyler's been talking about his backhand for forty-five minutes."

I laughed. "Forty-five? That's impressive."

"Wanna know a secret?" Sam lowered his voice. "The Pyramid? It's not real. Tyler's terrified of failing. That's why he never actually plays anyone good."

I looked at him, really looked at him. "You're not supposed to say that. You're literally at the top."

"Maybe that's why I can see it's all made up." He splashed water at me. "Hey, you're actually pretty funny. Wanna play padel? Like, for real? No Pyramids, no pretending."

"I..." I started. "Yeah. Actually."

And that's how I learned that the entire social Pyramid was just a bunch of terrified people pretending they weren't afraid of drowning.

Maya found us later, absolutely confused about why I was laughing so hard while Sam taught me his terrible backhand. Sometimes you have to get in the water to realize you were never drowning at all. You were just pretending not to swim.