Cable Summers

Marcus dropped the tangled mess of coaxial cable onto the grass, sweat plastering his faded NASA shirt to his back. Third week of his first summer job, and he still felt like he was faking being useful every time a customer actually let him inside their house.

"You got this, man," he whispered to himself, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "Just another installation."

The house belonged to Mrs. Chen, whose cat—a judgmental-looking calico named Bubbles—had been watching Marcus from the windowsill since he'd pulled up. The cat's stare felt suspiciously similar to how his crush, Jasmine, looked at him during lunch when he said something cringey. Which was often.

His phone buzzed. GROUP CHAT: Jasmine's pool party @ 4. Everyone's going. You coming?

Marcus checked his watch. 3:47. He checked the cable situation. A mess.

"Um, Mrs. Chen?" he called out. "This might take a minute."

Ten minutes later, sweating through every piece of clothing he owned, Marcus managed to secure the cable along the baseboards. Bubbles the cat had moved from the windowsill to directly beside his work area, occasionally batting at the cable like it was a personal offense.

"You're not helping," Marcus told the cat. Bubbles blinked slowly.

He sped toward Jasmine's house in his mom's minivan, jamming to the playlist his friends had declared "actually mid" but he secretly loved. The party was already in full swing—kids from school he'd known forever but never really talked to, all sprawled around the pool like they owned summer itself.

Jasmine waved from the shallow end, water droplets catching sunlight like sequins. "Marcus! Finally! Get in here!"

Marcus hesitated. He'd forgotten his swim trunks. Again.

"I, uh—"

"Just jump in, goofy!" Someone yelled. It was Tyler, who Marcus had sat next to in homeroom since sixth grade but couldn't remember having a single real conversation with. "Nobody cares!"

So Marcus jumped—in his cargo shorts and his NASA shirt and his momentary decision to just embrace the awkwardness. The water was perfect, shocking and cold and full of chlorine and laughter. Someone splashed him. He splashed back. Jasmine grinned at him from across the pool, and for the first time all summer, Marcus felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Later, dripping water onto the patio furniture while eating pizza that was definitely too expensive for his budget, he realized nobody had mentioned him being late. Nobody had cared about his cargo shorts. Nobody had made fun of him for not knowing how to do a cannonball properly.

They'd just been happy he showed up.

Bubbles's judgmental stare from Mrs. Chen's window flashed through his mind. Maybe the cat had been onto something. Or maybe—just maybe—Marcus had been overthinking everything. Again.

His phone buzzed again. Jasmine: u looked cute today lol

Marcus stared at the screen, water dripping from his hair onto the screen, and felt his face do that thing where it gave away everything he was trying to keep chill.

Summer was only half over, but Marcus had a feeling things were about to get interesting.