The Shallow End

Maya stood at the edge of the pool, clutching her iPhone like a lifeline. The screen glowed with Instagram stories of everyone having actual fun, while she was stuck at what was supposed to be the party of the summer. Only thing? The pool was closed for repairs, leaving a bunch of ninth graders awkwardly circling the blue tarp-covered water like confused sharks.

She'd spent forty-five minutes perfecting her selfie in the bathroom mirror, adjusting her new swimsuit until she looked effortless. Now she just felt effort-full.

"Nice throw."

Maya jumped. Leo stood there, holding a baseball he'd probably found in the bushes. He was the kind of cute that made your stomach do that weird flippy thing, but also the kind of unapproachable that made you want to dissolve into the concrete.

"What?"

"Your throw. Earlier. In gym." Leo tossed the baseball up, caught it. "You've got an arm."

Maya's brain short-circuited. He'd noticed? In gym class? When she'd been desperately trying NOT to be noticed?

"I mean, my dad played," she muttered, which was technically true but also the nerdiest thing she could've said.

"Cool." Leo stepped closer. "I'm trying out for the team. Could use someone to practice with."

Her iPhone buzzed in her hand — a text from her best friend: SOS THIS PARTY IS A DISASTER ARE YOU ALIVE???

She clicked it off, shoving the phone into her beach bag. "Yeah," she heard herself say. "I could do that."

Leo's smile was actual sunshine. "Cool. Cool, cool, cool." He held out the baseball. "Here. For now. Like, proof or something."

She took it, fingers brushing his. The baseball was warm from his hand, worn leather with stitching that felt familiar somehow. Like she belonged somewhere she hadn't expected.

Around them, the party continued its awkward orbit. But Maya stood there holding a baseball she didn't know she needed, next to a boy who'd seen her when she thought she was invisible, and for the first time all summer, she forgot about her phone entirely.

The pool might be closed. But something else was definitely opening.