Vitamin P by the Pool

Maya's legs burned as she rounded the corner, her phone clutched in her hand. She wasn't running from anything—well, except the realization that she'd ghosted the group chat for three days straight again.

"You good?" called Liam, the only person who still texted her offline. "You've been basically MIA since—"

"Since I tanked my chemistry midterm," Maya finished, sinking onto the pool deck. The community center pool shimmered blue in the afternoon heat, empty except for them. "My mom's making me take these stupid vitamin D supplements now. Says I'm 'vitamin deficient' from staying inside too much."

Liam snorted, pulling a gummy bottle from his backpack. "Same. They taste like radioactive chalk."

"At least you didn't fail chemistry," Maya groaned. "I'm literally cooked. My parents are gonna kill me, and then I'll have zero free time because they'll make me get a tutor or some bs."

"Wym zero free time?" Liam raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who signed up for that summer camp counselor thing. The one that pays actual money."

Maya's stomach dropped. "Oh. Yeah. About that..."

"You're not gonna bail, are you?" Liam looked genuinely disappointed. "The kids literally love you. And I was kinda hyped to work with someone who actually—"

"Okay, first of all, I'm not bailing. I just... I don't know if I can do it anymore. Everything feels so heavy lately." She stared at the pool's reflection. "Track, school, my parents' divorce drama last semester... I'm just tired, Liam."

He sat beside her, shoulders touching. "That's valid fr. But you know what helps?"

"What?"

"Jumping in the pool when you're fully clothed."

"What?"

"Like, actually. It's illegal, technically, but nobody's watching. And it's weirdly therapeutic."

Maya looked at him. "You're so weird."

"And you're stressed. Come on."

Before she could protest, Liam yanked her up, and they sprinted toward the pool's edge—running, really running, not from anything this time but toward something stupid and perfect.

"Wait, your phone!" Maya yelled.

"It'll be fine! It's—" Liam grabbed her hand, and together they leaped.

The shock of cold water hit like a reset button. As they surfaced, gasping and laughing, Maya's phone floated face-up on the surface—dead, definitely ruined.

"Oh my god," she said, and then she was cackling, really cackling, a sound she hadn't made in months. "My mom is going to literally murder me."

"Worth it?" Liam grinned.

"Actually? Yeah."

They paddled to the edge, soaked and exhausted. Maya fished out her phone, RIP to her social media existence. But for the first time in forever, she didn't care. She'd failed chemistry, she'd ruined her phone, and somehow she'd never felt lighter.

"You know," she said, wringing out her shirt, "I think those vitamin gummies were actually working."

"How? You literally just destroyed your phone."

"No, like..." Maya shook her head. "I think I just remembered what living feels like."

Liam smirked. "So you're not quitting the counselor gig?"

"Nah. I think I'm actually kinda hyped for it now."

"Bet. Just don't run away from the group chat this time."

"No promises," she said, and they laughed as the sun painted everything gold.