Cannonball at the End of the World

Marcus adjusted his fake Ray-Bans in the rearview mirror. The car smelled like Jenna's tropical vape and the two gummy vitamins she'd shoved at him.

"Take these," she'd said. "They're basically courage. Also, you won't get scurvy."

Marcus was fourteen and Jenna was his only friend, which was objectively tragic because they were carpooling to Tyler's pool party together and she was apparently his ride OR die.

The social pyramid at Northwood High had assigned Tyler to the apex. Marcus was somewhere in the basement, near the foundation, possibly below the earth's crust. But Tyler had invited literally everyone, and Jenna had made Marcus swear he'd come. She was on a mission to "expand his social portfolio" and other business metaphors she definitely didn't understand.

Tyler's house was obscene. The pool was a legitimate lagoon with a waterfall. Marcus spotted three separate groups already forming their own social constellations. The varsity jacket guys. The glossy-haired girls who all had the same exact laugh. The theater kids in the far corner, already doing jazz hands.

"You got this," Jenna said, bumping his shoulder. "Just don't bear hug anyone. We talked about this. Your boundaries are weird."

Marcus grabbed a soda. He stood by the deep end for approximately forty seconds before someone cannonballed directly next to him, splashing his entire front.

"Oops," said a girl in a swimsuit that cost more than Marcus's entire wardrobe. "Not sorry though. That was literally legendary."

That was Chloe. Apex of the pyramid. Varsity jacket guys' girlfriend. The kind of person who said "literally" unironically.

Marcus looked at his wet shirt. He thought about the vitamins in his pocket, small and bear-shaped and absurd. Jenna's terrible advice. The absolute gall of these people, their assumption that their world was the only world.

"Your form was garbage," he said.

Chloe blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Your cannonball. No splash. Barely a ripple. I've seen belly flops with more artistic vision."

The silence stretched. Jenna was gaping at him from across the pool. One of the varsity jacket guys stopped mid-laugh.

Then Chloe grinned. It wasn't mean. It was genuinely delighted.

"Do better then, mystery critic."

Marcus toed off his shoes. He did not think about the consequences. He did not think about the pyramid or tomorrow or the fact that he was absolutely going to regret this.

He jumped.

The splash was massive. Water everywhere. People were definitely wet who had not consented to being wet. Marcus surfaced to applause.

"Okay," Chloe said, impressed. "Not terrible."

In the car later, Jenna was vibrating with energy. "You made a FRIEND. At the TOP of the PYRAMID. Marcus. That was. I don't even."

Marcus pulled the soggy box of vitamins from his pocket. The bear-shaped gummy had dissolved into a sticky mess.

"I think they're working," he said.

Jenna whooped. She didn't even mind when he ate the rest of the package, wrapper and all.