Zombie by the Pool Edge

Maya dragged herself through the backyard like a zombie, three hours of sleep fueling each heavy step. The sun beat down on the Smiths' annual end-of-school party, already in full swing by noon. She adjusted the brim of her dad's old fishing hat, pulling it lower over her eyes like a shield against the social battlefield ahead.

"You made it!" Charlie materialized, grinning, water dripping from his hair. He'd obviously already been in the pool. "Rumor has it Jessica's gonna finally—"

"Holding court by the snack table," Maya cut in, though her heart hammered. She'd spent months crushing on Jessica, the girl who sat three rows back in English and wrote poetry on her sneakers.

Charlie looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "No, dude. Mrs. Chen's wifi cable got cut yesterday, and she's asking if anyone can fix it before Monday's finals. Says she'll pay fifty bucks."

Maya blinked. "Oh."

"Also Jessica's been staring at you for like five minutes."

Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgot how to organ. She spotted Jessica across the yard, sitting on the pool edge with her feet in the water, wearing oversized sunglasses and looking unfairly effortless in the June heat. Their eyes met. Jessica smiled—a real one, crinkling at the corners—and patted the empty space beside her.

"Go," Charlie said, shoving her shoulder. "I'll handle the hat situation."

Maya walked over, each step feeling like traversing a minefield. But she sat down, letting her legs dangle in the cool water, and when Jessica passed her a water bottle with a note pressed to the back—"your writing in lit changed my life"—she thought maybe, just maybe, she wasn't as invisible as she'd always believed.

"Nice hat," Jessica said, and for once, Maya believed it.