**First Place in the @TeenFiction Another Year contest!!**Maddie Spence had big plans her final year of high school--this was to be the year that she conquered her fears and learned to be comfortable in her own skin. But when COVID-19 takes the worl...
I must admit that I was feeling amazing after standing up for myself, but as I stand in front of Sunny's house...my self-esteem dwindles. Perhaps it's that Sunny is still a mystery to me or maybe it's the black one-piece hidden under my tank top and shorts. But most likely it's because I have attended not one large social gathering with my peers since I was eleven.
"Come on, Maddie. You need to check this off your list. This is your chance to do something you've always wanted to do. And it is just a party of girls, you got this." I mumble as I lift my fist and knock on the door.
A woman in a tie-dyed dress who has the same unruly hair as Sunny swings the door open. "You must be Maddie! I'm Sunny's mom, Kate," she says, with a wide smile while stepping to the side. "Come in. The girls are out back."
I cling to the beach bag on my shoulder as Kate leads me through the house and out the French doors to the backyard. Sunny and a group of girls are lounging on the pool deck...all of them wearing bikinis. This is one of those moments in my life when I wish I could just dissolve into nothingness. But of course, Sunny notices me before I can go invisible.
"There's my new hero!" Sunny jumps to her feet, takes my bag, tosses it on a chair, and pulls me forward. As we walk to the group of girls, she tells me each of their names, and they greet me with a smile. "Take a seat. What will you have to drink?"
"Water is good."
"Oh, come on, my mom makes the best organic strawberry smoothies." Sunny points to the bright pink drinks decorated with little umbrellas. "Mom, can you make Maddie a drink?"
"Coming right up," Kate calls through the kitchen window.
"Get comfortable and catch some sun with us."
My heart races at the thought of all these gorgeous girls seeing every imperfection I've worked so hard to hide for the last eight years. But as I look around, I notice that every one, even Sunny, has flaws. Wide hips, thick thighs, belly rolls, and even double chins, they're all beautiful. Every single one of them. So why was it so impossible for me to see myself that way too?
With a renewed sense of courage, I take a deep breath and push my shorts down and pull the tank top over my head. I drop it onto the chair with my beach bag, and I'm left more exposed than I have been in years. Kailee, a raven-haired petite girl says, "I like your bathing suit!"
Before I can respond, Sunny waves over my shoulder.
"Oh, hey Daddy!" she exclaims. "Come meet my new friend!"
My cheeks flame and I turn to face her father, but the person who trails behind him almost sends me into a tailspin.
Coming through the garden gate with a weedeater over his shoulder, wiping sweat from his gorgeous chestnut eyebrows is Dalton Gray.
The Dalton Gray that I've been in love with since freshman year.
I shake Sunny's dad's hand and don't hear a word he says.
What on Earth is Dalton doing here?
"Cuz! Come swim with us!" Sunny waves Dalton over. "Maddie, do you know Dalton?"
I clear my throat and say, "Y-yeah, we've had a couple of classes together." Do I know Dalton...Do I know Dalton? For Pete's sake, I have memorized every freckle, noticed every pair of Vans, pictured his lips on mine more times than I can even say. Yeah, I'd say I know Dalton.
"Yeah, Maddie Spence, right?" he says, pulling his shirt over his head. I bite my lip and fight to keep my eyes on his face. "I remember the speech you gave in Contemporary Issues last year over the #MeToo movement. That was incredible."
My heart flutters. He remembers that? "Wow, I didn't know it had that kind of impact," I reply, shifting from one foot to the other, keeping my arms crossed over my midsection.
Sunny elbows me. "So, I guess your speech in the bathroom this week wasn't your first rodeo?"
"A speech? In the bathroom?" Dalton says, moving toward the pool.
"She stuck it to the Perfs."
He nods and dives into the water.
"The Perfs?" I ask, my eyes glued to Dalton.
"The Perfects—that's what we call Grace, Chelsea, and Sierra," explains Kailee.
"It has to be so hard for them to maintain such perfection all the time," chimes in Tera, a girl with beautiful umber skin and long braids.
Dalton springs up from the surface and brushes the water from his face. "Don't leave me in here by myself!"
"We're talking," Sunny says, waving him away.
His gaze meets mine. "Maddie?"
"I don't—"
"Come on. Don't let me be the lame one swimming by myself."
I turn back to Sunny, who shrugs.
"Maddie," Dalton sings.
With a long exhale, I stand and drop my hands to my sides. I am going to swim with Dalton Gray.
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