Zombie Mode at the Pool Party

I'd been running on zombie mode since finals week ended, but somehow Maya convinced me that Jake's pool party was exactly what I needed. "You'll have fun," she promised. "Everyone's going to be there."

Yeah. That was the problem.

The palm trees around Jake's backyard cast long shadows across the pool where people were cannonballing and screaming like they weren't all silently judging each other's swimsuits. I grabbed a papaya punch from the cooler—way too sweet, but it gave me something to do with my hands.

"You okay?" this guy Corey asked, appearing way too close. He was on the swim team, had that confident athlete vibe that made my stomach do weird flip-flops.

"Just thinking about how I'm socially dead inside," I said, then immediately regretted it. Smooth. Real smooth.

Corey laughed, though. "Dude, same. I've been in zombie mode since Tuesday." He pointed toward the side of the house where a calico cat was crouched under some bushes, tail twitching. "That cat has the right idea. Just watching everyone make fools of themselves."

I cracked a real smile. "That's exactly what I needed to hear."

"You're actually swimming, right?" he asked. "Not just standing here being aesthetically melancholic?"

"Oh, I'm totally swimming. Just waiting for the perfect moment."

"Right now. Trust me."

We jumped in together, fully clothed, and the cold water shocked me awake in a way that nothing else had all summer. Corey splashed me, I splashed back, and for the first time in weeks, I wasn't thinking about how awkward I felt or who was watching.

Maybe Maya was right. Sometimes you need someone to push you into the pool—literally—to remember you're actually alive.