Electric at the Deep End

The pool water rippled around me as I floated on my back, staring up at the ceiling where someone had taped glow-in-the-dark stars. Emma's house parties were legendary, but I'd spent the last hour avoiding eye contact with anyone who wasn't already underwater.

"You coming in or what?"

I spun around. It was Marcus—that senior who played baseball and somehow made varsity jacket look like actual fashion. He was standing poolside, dripping wet, holding a red solo cup like he owned the place.

"I'm good," I said, treading water like my life depended on it.

"Your loss." He cannonballed in, sending a wave straight at my face.

So much for avoiding attention.

Earlier, I'd spent twenty minutes trapped in a conversation with Emma's little sister about her goldfish, which had apparently developed separation anxiety. "He gets lonely when I'm at school," she'd told me with devastating seriousness. I'd nodded along, pretending I didn't see the irony—me, taking life advice from a seven-year-old about her pet fish while I stood alone at a party I'd been invited to out of pity.

Outside, lightning cracked across the sky, followed immediately by thunder that made the house shake. Someone screamed with delight because teenagers will turn literally anything into a main character moment.

"Pool party's over!" Emma's dad yelled from the back door. "Everyone out, NOW!"

Chaos. People scrambling, grabbing towels, knocking over cups. I ducked under the water to avoid the splash zone, resurfacing to find Marcus standing there, extending a hand.

"You okay?"

His palm was warm against mine. Which was the only explanation for why my stomach did that stupid fluttery thing.

"Fine," I said, probably too quickly.

"Cool." He handed me a towel. "You're in my AP Bio class, right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool," he said again. "I sit behind you. You always have those ridiculous fish stickers on your notebook."

My face burned. "My sister's goldfish. It's a long story."

He laughed—not mean, just... amused. "I like them. They're weird. Most people here are trying way too hard to be normal."

Thunder rattled the windows again. Someone started playing rain sounds from a Bluetooth speaker because apparently weather needed a soundtrack.

"Hey," Marcus said, "you wanna hang out by the snacks? I feel like we're the only two people who actually don't want to be in the pool anymore."

"Sure."

And just like that, I wasn't the girl hiding in the deep end anymore. I was just someone who might have just made a real friend. The lightning outside didn't seem so scary anymore—more like the sky was just taking its own dramatic photo of everything changing.