She had a towel wrapped around her body, and I could see rainbow swimsuit straps on her shoulders. Her toenails were painted rainbow colors, too. She rolled her eyes and gestured to the front desk, then looked me up and down, frowning. “You have to shower before you get in the water.”

She walked through doors that had a sign over them that said POOLS.

I passed the rock-climbing wall on my way to the front desk; there was a man who’d almost reached the top of the wall, and I had to look away even though he had a spotter on the ground. That was something Colette and Frankie would have tried, not me.

“I’m here with the art camp,” I said quietly to the college-age student behind the desk. The lobby was humid and smelled like chlorine.

“Sure sure, what’s your name?” he asked.

“Tess Harper?”

He looked at a computer screen for long enough to make me think that someone had forgotten to add me to the list.

That’s because you’re forgettable, the voice in my head cut me down.

Just when I was ready to text Aunt Maureen to come back and get me, the kid said, “Here you are!”

He snapped a hot pink plastic band snugly on my left wrist.

“Shower before and after you use the pools,” the kid said. “Hit pound three times to set the code for your locker. No running in the pool area.” He raised his eyebrows at me like he was wondering why I was still standing there. “That’s it.”

I hoisted up my beach bag and followed the signs to the locker room. I got out my towel, then took off everything but my suit and flip-flops, set the code, and locked my locker. I rinsed off under the harsh spray of the shower, trying not to get my hair too wet in the process. My flip-flops were soaked and slippery when I stepped out; I wrapped my beach towel tightly around me and went to join the others.

This place had been under renovation last year, so it was all new to me. In the area before me was a massive, kidney-bean-shaped pool with one part a lazy river, one part a submarine toy for toddlers, and one part a three-story waterslide.

“Tess, we’re over here!” Girl Sam yelled from the top of the waterslide, jumping up and down and waving. She was wearing a black bikini that showed off her curvy body, a suit I’d never be comfortable in. “Watch!” she called, her voice echoing through the cavernous space.