Dog Days at the Dead Pool

Marcus pulled his baseball cap lower, eyes scanning the chaos of Jace's backyard pool party. The invite had said zombie theme, but half these people were just in regular swimsuits with fake blood splattered on like an afterthought. Amateurs.

"Yo, Marcus! You gonna stand there all day looking like a zombie extra or what?" Jace called from the pool, splashing water everywhere like he owned the concept of fun.

Marcus's hand found Buster's head automatically. His golden retriever sat solid against his leg, the only thing keeping him grounded in this social minefield. Technically Buster wasn't supposed to be here—Jace's mom was allergic—but technically Marcus's therapist said having Buster helped with his anxiety, and technically Marcus had snuck him in through the side gate because there was no way he was doing this alone.

The hat stayed on. In the water? He'd rather die. His hair was doing this weird cowlick thing since he'd buzzed it two weeks ago, and nobody—not even Chloe, who kept looking at him from her pool floatie—needed to see that disaster.

"Marcus!" Chloe swam over, water dripping from her zombie mermaid tail. "Take off the hat and get in here! The water's sick!"

"Nah, I'm good," he said, voice cracking. Great. Just great. "Buster needs me."

"Your dog needs you to get in the pool with him," she giggled.

That's when it happened. Some seventh grader running full speed with a plate of nachos tripped over absolutely nothing, launching himself and the nachos directly at Marcus. Buster barked. Marcus stumbled. The hat flew off.

Dead silence.

Then Jace started laughing. "Bro, your hair is doing something crazy."

Marcus's face burned. He reached for the hat, but Chloe was already there, grabbing his wrist.

"Leave it," she said. "You look fine. Better than fine. Come swimming."

"I—"

"Buster too."

And that was how Marcus found himself dog-paddling at Jace's zombie pool party, hat forgotten on the deck, while his dog did actual laps around everyone like he'd been training for this moment his whole life. Chloe floated next to him, fake blood smeared across her cheek, grinning like this was exactly where they were supposed to be.

"You know," she said, "you're actually pretty cool when you stop hiding under that hat."

Marcus smiled. Maybe, just maybe, she was right.