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I’m about to start counting when I realize I can’t jump in the pool with a fresh piercing the aftercare sheet emphasized it would not be safe to swim with for at least a couple weeks.

“Wait,” I say as the other girls shift up to join me. “We totally forgot about our piercings.”

“Oh my god, you’re right,” Priya says, reaching up to cup her ear. “How did I not even think of that?”

She starts to back away from the pool, but Shal latches onto her arm to hold her in place.

“We’ll just keep our heads above the water,” she says. “It’ll be fine. The piercings won’t even touch the pool.”

I gesture down at my chest. “That’s going to be a little more difficult with this situation.”

“You could just stay in the shallow—”

Shal cuts herself off as we all turn to stare at Naomi, who’s darted over to the pool shed. She disappears inside for a couple seconds before returning with a bright pink inner tube slung over one of her arms.

“You can swim with this on,” she says, panting a little by the time she gets back to us.

She grins at me and holds the tube out. A fresh patch of goose bumps flares on my skin when my fingers brush hers before she lets go of the plastic.

“Get your boob protector on, and then lets get in,” Shal barks, hopping from foot to foot to stay warm.

I turn my back to the pool and shimmy my towel down to my waist before sliding the inner tube over my head and arms to settle around my chest. My piercing twinges a little during the process but stops protesting once my boobs are resting against the curve of the tube.

Thankfully, the tube is on the tighter side and sitting so high up my chest my boobs are pretty much hidden from view, with just my head peeking out like some weird new breed of hermit crab.

I turn around, and everyone bursts out laughing.

“It’s called fashion,” I say, jutting my chin up as I march back to the edge of the pool. “Are we getting in or what?”

I count down from three. When I get to one, we fling our towels aside. A surge of adrenaline floods my body as the cold air hits my bare skin.

I squeeze my eyes shut and shout, “Go!”

We all scream as we leap into the water. My tube hits the surface with a splat that sends rippling waves surging out away from me. The pool is heated, and my skin sings with relief as the water warms me.

Priya is shrieking about her piercing while Shal laughs and splashes her. Naomi giggles while she treads water and watches them from a few feet away.

The water is too choppy for her body to be anything but a shimmering outline beneath the waves, but my heart still thuds at the flashes of bare skin I see reflecting in the underwater lights.

I force myself to look away and pretend I’m focused on Shal and Priya’s battle as I do an awkward doggy paddle towards her. The sound of the tube squeaking makes her turn and laugh at me instead.

“I know, I know,” I say. “I look ridiculous.”

“I think the pink suits you,” she says with a chuckle.

I let myself float in place once I’m a couple feet away from her. “Well, thank you for selecting it.”

We stare at each other for a few seconds, Shal and Priya’s shouts filling the silence between us. Water has beaded into glimmering droplets on Naomi’s hair, like she’s a mermaid all decked out in shiny pearls.

I haven’t been this close to her since that day at the bookstore. We’ve barely talked since then. She’s been working more hours than usual at her data entry job, so I’ve been keeping busy with my guitar and some reading.

“Hey, you two! We’re playing catch.”

I jerk my head around just in time to see a beach ball flying towards my face. I raise my hand on instinct and slap it away, sending the ball arcing over to Priya.

For the next ten minutes, all my thoughts get pushed aside as the four of us toss the ball around, laughing and making fun of each other the whole time. The tube restricts my movement enough that I’m the worst player by far, and my arms have gone limp from the strain of reaching for the ball by the time someone knocks it so far out of the pool we decide we’re done.

The storm clouds have gotten even thicker, turning the edges of the backyard beyond the reach of the house lights pitch black. Priya announces she wants to go in the hot tub before it rains, and the rest of us follow after her.