When Lightning Hit the Pool

I was three feet deep in Jessica Miller's backyard pool, clutching my iPhone like it was a life raft. The graduation party was in full swing—people doing cannonballs off the diving board, someone blasting terrible music through a Bluetooth speaker that kept cutting out, and me, hovering near the shallow end like I had somewhere better to be.

"Maya! Come try this papaya!" Jessica's cousin called from the patio, holding up something that looked like an alien fruit. "It's fresh from my abuela's tree!"

I shook my head. Papaya. The one fruit my mom kept trying to force on me because "it's in your blood, mija." Like I needed another reminder that I was only half-Mexican on a good day and fully confused on a bad one.

The first crack of lightning hit somewhere in the distance. Everyone laughed it off until the sky turned that weird purple-green color that means you're about to get absolutely poured on.

Suddenly, everyone was scrambling out of the water, shrieking and grabbing towels. I swam to the edge, hoisting myself up—and that's when it happened. My iPhone slipped from my grip and did a perfect Olympic dive into the deep end.

I just stared at the ripples. My phone. My lifeline. My everything. Gone.

"You okay?"

I looked up. It was Jessica's cousin, the papaya girl. She wasn't laughing. She held out a piece of the fruit, orange and glistening. "It's actually not that bad once you get past the... texture."

The water from my hair dripped down my back. Lightning flashed again, closer this time, illuminating her concerned face. Something in my chest shifted—like maybe, just maybe, the worst thing that could happen wasn't losing my phone. It was never letting myself try something new.

I took the papaya. Bit down. It tasted like summer and weirdness and exactly the kind of first experience I'd been avoiding all year.

"Not terrible," I said, and she grinned.

The rain started falling, warm and relentless, and we just stood there eating papaya while everyone else ran for cover. Sometimes the best moments happen when your phone's at the bottom of a pool and you're finally paying attention.