Catfished at Carter's Pool

The invite to Carter's end-of-summer bash had been sitting in my DMs for three days. Carter, whose backyard pool was basically legendary among incoming freshmen, had invited ME. The new girl who'd spent the entire first week of high school invisible.

"You're going, right?" Maya asked, spinning her locker combo. She was my first real friend here, the kind who noticed when you were having a bad day and slipped you a sour gummy worm during chem.

"I don't even have a swimsuit that doesn't look like it came from the toddler section," I muttered.

Maya's eyes widened. "Oh, we're fixing this NOW."

Two hours later, I stood in her bedroom staring at myself in a bikini that was actually cute. This was happening. I was actually doing this.

The party was already popping when we arrived. Bodies splashed in the glowing blue water. Someone had Bluetooth speakers blasting something with way too much bass. Carter emerged from the pool, water dripping from his hair like he was in a music video.

"Hey! You made it!" He smiled. Something fluttered in my stomach that had nothing to do with anxiety.

I spent the next hour pretending I knew how to be a pool person. I splashed. I laughed at jokes I didn't hear. I let myself believe this could be my life now.

Then Carter's mom came out with platters of food. "Veggie wraps for anyone avoiding chips before swim season!"

I grabbed one, starving from all the nerves. Took a huge bite. And immediately felt something weird between my teeth.

"You got a little—" Carter started.

I bolted to the bathroom mirror. A massive chunk of **spinach** was wedged in my front teeth. Probably there since the first bite. Possibly while I'd been talking to Carter. Possibly while laughing.

I wanted to dissolve. Actually dissolve.

When I came back out, everyone was gathered around the side of the pool. Carter's **cat**, Mango—a fluffy orange menace—was crouched by the glass bowl on the patio table. Inside, a solitary **goldfish** swam in terrified circles.

"Bro, your cat is about to commit murder," someone said.

Carter lunged, but Mango was faster. The bowl tipped. The fish flopped onto the concrete.

Everything happened at once. Someone screamed. Carter's dad grabbed the fish. Mango bolted. And I—still hyper-aware of my teeth, still feeling like I didn't belong—just moved.

I scooped up the flapping goldfish and dropped it into the pool before my brain could catch up with my body.

It floated there for one terrible second. Then—it darted away into the deep end, alive.

"Holy shiiii—" Carter started, then caught himself. "That was... actually pretty heroic?"

Someone else laughed. "New girl saves the day!"

"It's Chloe," I said, surprised by my own voice. "And that fish is definitely traumatized."

Carter's eyes met mine, and something shifted. Not romantic—not exactly. But real. The weird spinach moment, the fish chaos, the absolute absurdity of it all.

"Well, Chloe," he said, grinning. "Wanna help me catch a goldfish with a net?"

"Only if you promise never to serve spinach wraps again."

"Deal."

Later, as I helped Maya carry her stuff to her car, she grinned. "See? You're a pool person now."

I thought about Mango the cat plotting revenge, the goldfish now swimming somewhere in the deep end, the way Carter had said my name like he actually knew it.

"Maybe," I said. "But I'm bringing my own snacks next time."