Waterlogged

The pool party was already in full swing when Maya arrived, fashionably late but feeling totally wrong. Everyone from sophomore year seemed to be there, splashing around in someone's backyard while music thumped from a Bluetooth speaker. Maya stood by the fence in her oversized t-shirt cover-up, clutching her towel like a security blanket.

"You coming in or what?" called Jordan from the deep end. He was the one who'd invited her, which still made zero sense considering they'd barely spoken all year. They'd had one conversation about Spanish homework back in January, and suddenly she was on the guest list for the party of the summer.

"Maybe in a bit," Maya lied, adjusting her glasses that kept sliding down her nose from humidity.

A girl with perfect beach waves — Chelsea, she thought — climbed out of the pool, water dripping from her bikini. "You guys still doing that padel tournament tomorrow? My cousin's partner bailed, so I might sub in."

Maya had never heard of padel in her life. Was it like pickleball? Some exclusive sport she was supposed to know about? She felt the familiar gap widening between her and everyone else, like she was watching life happen through thick glass.

Just then, a cat shot through the yard, streaking past the pool with something in its mouth. "Yo, whose cat just jacked my hot dog!" some guy yelled, chasing after it with a dog following close behind, barking its head off.

Maya found herself moving without thinking, instinctively following the commotion behind the shed. The cat had dropped the hot dog in a corner and was hissing at the approaching dog, tail puffed.

"Hey, hey, shh," Maya said softly, kneeling down. She'd always had this thing with animals — they just got her in a way people didn't. The cat relaxed immediately, rubbing against her hand like they'd known each other forever.

"Nice," Jordan said from behind her. "Mittens never lets anyone touch her."

Maya shrugged, suddenly hyper-aware that she was crouching in a stranger's backyard with a stolen hot dog and two animals surrounding her. "Animals are easy. They don't care if you're awkward or don't know what padel is."

Jordan laughed, and it wasn't mean. "Dude, I had to Google it yesterday. My mom's friend's kid plays, and suddenly we're all supposed to be experts. Half these people are just pretending to know what's up."

He held out a hand. "You want to just get in the pool? We don't have to talk to anyone. We can just float."

Maya looked at his hand, then at the pool where people were laughing and existing so effortlessly. Then she looked back at the cat, now eating the stolen hot dog in peace, and the dog sitting patiently beside her like they were old friends.

"Okay," she said, taking his hand. "But I'm not playing padel tomorrow."

"Fair enough." He grinned. "I'll tell everyone you're recovering from a highly competitive hot dog rescue."

Maya actually laughed as she stepped toward the pool, and for the first time all summer, she didn't feel like she was underwater.