The Splash Heard 'Round the Pool

I stood against the chain-link fence, basically being a low-key spy on my own life. Jake's baseball cap was backwards—again—and he was laughing at something Tyler said, that easy confidence that made my stomach do those weird little flips it had been doing since September.

My thumb hovered over my iPhone screen. I'd typed "hey" approximately forty-seven times in the past hour. Each time, I deleted it. Because apparently, I was allergic to normal human interaction.

"You gonna stare all day, or actually talk to him?" Maya appeared beside me, sipping from a bright blue water bottle. She'd cut her hair over spring break and now she looked like someone who had their life together. Unlike me, currently hovering at the edge of the party like a ghost.

"I'm not staring," I lied. "I'm observing. There's a difference."

"You're being a creep," she said, but she was smiling. "He's literally looking over here. Like, right now."

My heart rate spiked. Jake was looking over here. At me. Probably because I'd been watching him like he was the last slice of pizza at a party.

And then—the absolute worst thing happened.

This bull of a dog came bounding out of nowhere. A giant, slobbering beast that had clearly decided today was the day it would ruin my entire life. It knocked into me with the grace of a small, furry automobile, and my iPhone went flying.

Time moved in slow motion. The phone. The pool. The splash.

My life was over.

But then Jake was there, wading into the shallow end, baseball cap still somehow on his head, water dripping down his face. He held up my phone like it was some kind of prize.

"This yours?" he asked, grinning.

"Yeah," I managed. "I mean. That's. That's mine."

He handed it to me, our fingers brushing for approximately half a second but honestly, it felt like an entire year. "Nice phone. Great swimming skills."

"Thanks," I said, face burning. "I really appreciate the commentary."

"Anytime." He tilted his head. "Hey, you coming to the game Friday? We play North."

My heart did something that felt medically concerning. "Yeah," I said, before I could overthink it. "Yeah, I'll be there."

Maya was losing it behind me. I didn't even care.

Sometimes, the universe breaks your phone. And sometimes, that's exactly what you need.