Cannonball Courage

The rumor about Tyler hooking up with Jessica at homecoming? Total **bull**. Everyone knew it, but nobody said it, because Tyler was basically king of Northwood High and his fan club would defend his honor to the death.

Which is exactly why I was currently hyperventilating behind a concession stand at the community pool while my friends abandoned me for the deep end. The Spring Fling kickoff party. The most important social event of junior year. And I was hiding.

"You coming in or what?" Marcus yelled, splashing **water** in my direction. He was already doing that thing where he acted like we weren't invisible at school just because summer made everyone temporarily chill.

"In a minute!" I called back, lying through my teeth.

Then I saw HER. Lena. The girl I'd been lowkey obsessed with since seventh grade when she beat me at the spelling bee and then signed my yearbook "stay weird." She was poolside in this vintage swim situation that made my brain short-circuit, laughing at something Tyler said.

And then it happened. Tyler grabbed her and literally THREW her into the pool.

Everyone laughed. Like, actually laughed. But I saw her face as she came up, gasping, hair plastered everywhere, makeup probably **running** down her face because she was definitely crying now, not laughing.

I didn't think. I just moved.

"Hey!" I yelled, louder than I'd ever spoken in my life. "That's not cool!"

Tyler turned, and the whole pool area went silent. "Chill, it's a joke. She knows that."

Lena surfaced again, wiping her face. She looked at me, then at Tyler.

"No," she said, her voice shaking but firm. "I didn't know that. And I don't like it."

She climbed out of the pool, **water** dripping everywhere, and walked straight toward me. Tyler just stood there, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of **water**.

"Thanks," Lena said to me, barely audible.

"Yeah," I managed, my heart doing something genuinely concerning in my chest. "Whatever. That was... **bull**." The word felt foreign coming from my mouth but also right.

She smiled. Actually smiled. "Want to get out of here? My place has better snacks and no people like Tyler."

"Hard pass on Tyler," I said, and we walked away together while Marcus whistled from the deep end and for the first time in my life, I didn't care who was watching.