Chlorine Secrets

The pool party at Jessica's house was supposed to be the highlight of summer before freshman year, but for Leo, it felt more like a social experiment he was failing. He stood by the snack table, clutching a paper plate, watching everyone else splash around in the **pool** like they'd been born with gills.

"You okay, man?" Marcus asked, sidling up beside him. "You look like you're about to puke."

Leo forced a laugh. "Nah. Just... taking it all in."

"You sure? Because you've been standing there for twenty minutes holding the same nacho." Marcus grinned. "Come **on**. Even Tyler's in the water."

Tyler. The name alone made Leo's stomach do that annoying fluttery thing. Tyler Martinez, who'd somehow grown six inches over summer break and now looked like he'd walked off a **baseball** card. Tyler, who'd smiled at Leo in the hallway last week and made him forget his own locker combination.

"I think I left my phone inside," Leo lied. "Be right back."

"Whatever you say, **spy**," Marcus called after him. "Just don't spend the whole night lurking."

Inside the house, it was quiet and blessedly cool. Leo ducked into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. Through the window, he could see the pool deck lit up with string lights, people laughing and shouting. FOMO hit him like a physical weight. Why was this so hard for everyone else?

He dug through his backpack for his emergency stash—a **vitamin** C supplement he carried because his mom swore it helped with stress. Yeah, right. The only thing that would help with this stress was teleportation.

"Leo?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin. Tyler stood in the doorway, shirtless, water dripping from his hair onto his shoulders. Leo's brain short-circuited.

"Hey," Leo managed. "What's up?"

"Just saw you come in here." Tyler leaned against the doorframe, completely casual. "Everything good?"

"Yeah. Just... needed a break from all the." Leo gestured vaguely.

"Same." Tyler laughed. "Jessica's mom keeps asking everyone if we want fruit punch. It's intense."

They stood there for a moment, and Leo realized Tyler wasn't leaving.

"You know," Tyler said, "Marcus was joking earlier about you being a **spy**, but honestly? I've been waiting for you to come back outside."

Leo's heart did something illegal in his chest. "You... what?"

"I wanted to see if you'd play cornhole with me." Tyler shrugged, but there was something soft in his expression. "Since you're not in the pool either."

"Oh." Leo felt something in his chest unclench. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Cool." Tyler pushed off the doorframe. "And Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time someone makes fun of you for being quiet?" He grinned. "Tell them to mind their own business. You're actually pretty cool when you're not overthinking everything."

The embarrassment on Leo's face must have been visible because Tyler laughed and added, "I saw you doing that thing. Where you look like you're solving complex math problems in your head? Full **bull**, by the way. Nobody's actually thinking that hard at a pool party."

Leo laughed, really laughed, and followed him back outside into the noise and light. Maybe freshman year wouldn't be so terrible after all.