The Pyramid at the Deep End

The orange slice floated in the pool like a tiny sun, mocking me.

"Maya, stop staring at the citrus and get over here!" Chloe yelled, her voice cutting through the summer humidity. "We're doing the pyramid thing!"

The pyramid. Because nothing says 'cool pool party' like sixteen teenagers stacking themselves into human geometry. But this was Tyler's party, and Tyler's parties were legendary. If you didn't show up to his Friday afternoon pool sessions, you might as well not exist at Northwood High next semester.

I clutched my iPhone against my chest like it was a lifeline. Three new notifications from Mira: *'r u coming??' 'everyone's asking' 'DON'T BE AWKWARD.'* Thanks, bestie.

The water sparkled with that fake-blue chemical color, and somewhere a cat—probably Tyler's sister's demon creature, Miso—meowed from the balcony above. The cat had scratched me last time I was here. I still had the scars.

"Maya's gonna be the base!" someone shouted.

Of course I was. Maya: always dependable, always the foundation, never the girl at the top of the pyramid who got to look down on everyone. That was Skylar's spot. Skylar with her perfect hair and her perfect laugh and the way Tyler looked at her like she was actual magic.

I stepped into the pool. The water swallowed my legs, cool and strange.

*Ping.*

My iPhone vibrated in my hand. Tyler had posted a story. Everyone in the pool pyramid, grinning like idiots. And there I was, caught in the background—mouth half-open, looking like I was contemplating the meaning of existence.

*Caption: 'pyramid squad! who's missing? 😂'

*

My thumb slipped.

The iPhone hit the water with a tiny splash that nobody noticed because they were all too busy laughing at something Skylar said. Time seemed to stop. I watched it sink, trailing bubbles like tiny ghosts.

"My phone!" I shrieked, diving after it.

Hands reached for me. Someone—Tyler—grabbed my waist. "You okay?"

I surfaced, dripping, clutching my dead phone, and the whole pyramid had collapsed. Everyone was laughing. Not mean laughter. Real laughter. The kind that happens when things go wrong but somehow it's okay because we're all just awkward humans trying too hard.

"Dude, your phone," Tyler said, grinning. And then, "you want some orange soda? We have, like, three two-liters."

Miso the cat appeared at the pool edge, tail twitching, like she'd been waiting for this moment all along.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I do."

Maybe the bottom of the pyramid wasn't so bad. The view was different, but the water felt the same for everyone.