The Summer Everything Changed

I felt like a straight-up zombie that July. Between staying up until 3 AM scrolling through Mia's Instagram and waking up for swim practice at dawn, my brain was operating on 1% battery. My mom said I was wasting my summer. She wasn't wrong.

Then came padel tournament day. I'd barely touched a racket, but when I saw Mia signed up for mixed doubles, suddenly I was basically Serena Williams. I partnered with this kid Lucas who kept saying "no cap, I got this" while missing every serve. We got absolutely cooked in the first round, but Mia watched from the bench and smiled at me once. I'd call that a win.

That night, some seniors were talking about the lake. Night swimming, they said. The water was supposed to be different in the dark—more alive, somehow. I'm not great at swimming but I wasn't about to let that show. Not when Mia was definitely going.

We slipped out past curfew. The moonlight hit the water like something out of a movie. Cold shock hitting my skin, treading water while people laughed and splashed around me. Mia floated nearby, her hair wet against her face. We talked about everything and nothing—school drama, how weird it felt to be almost-grown-ups, her dream to move somewhere that actually snowed.

Then we heard it. branches snapping. Something massive moving through the trees.

"Bear," someone whispered, and suddenly everyone was hauling themselves toward the dock, hearts practically jumping out of our chests. We sat shivering on the wooden planks, watching the shadow move at the tree line, not speaking, barely breathing. The danger felt real in a way summer camp never had before.

Mia grabbed my hand. Her palm was cold and shaking. The bear never came closer, but something shifted anyway.

We walked back to the cabins in a group, nobody admitting we were terrified. Mia kept holding my hand the whole way.

The next morning I slept through practice and got a lecture from my coach. I couldn't care less. I'd felt like a zombie all summer, but that night at the lake? I'd never felt more awake.