Fox at the Country Club

The chlorine stung my nose as I skimmed leaves off the pool surface. Another Saturday working at Maplewood Country Club while the rest of the junior class was probably at the beach or posting aesthetic brunch pics. My phone buzzed in my pocket – probably Maya group-chatting about龙湖龙湖龙湖龙湖's party tonight. The one I wasn't invited to.

"Hey, pool girl!" Tristan called from the padel court. He was shirtless, sweat glistening on his abs, serving with that easy confidence that came from having parents who owned half the town. "You watching us dominate?"

I fake-smiled and kept skimming. Tristan was the kind of guy who'd never understand what it meant to save every paycheck for college because your parents couldn't. But he was also fine as hell, and I wasn't immune to his rizz, even if his entire personality screamed I have never faced a single consequence in my life.

Suddenly, a rust-orange flash darted past the cabana.

"What the—"

A fox. An actual fox, trotting like it owned the place, heading straight toward the padel court where Tristan's family's golden retriever, Buster, was sleeping under a bench.

Chaos erupted. Buster woke up barking his head off. The fox stood its ground, tail twitching like this was all according to plan. Tristan's padel game went sideways – his partner smashed a ball straight into the pool, sending up a mini tsunami that drenched everyone watching.

I grabbed the net I used for leaves and sprinted over, somehow the only one functioning. The fox bolted toward the parking lot with Buster chasing it, and I ran after them, Tristan right behind me.

We ended up three streets away, sweaty and out of breath, watching the fox disappear into someone's backyard. Buster sat, panting, looking pleased with himself. Tristan's perfectly messy hair was now actually messy, his designer polo grass-stained, and for the first time, he looked like an actual human being instead of a cardboard cutout of privilege.

"That," he said, grinning, "was absolutely unhinged. 10/10, would fox chase again."

I laughed, surprising myself. "Your mom's gonna kill you about that polo."

"Worth it." He checked his phone. "Hey, you doing anything tonight?龙湖' party's gonna be mid anyway, wanna get food instead? My treat."

Maybe working at the country club wasn't so bad after all. Sometimes it takes a chaotic fox chase to find the real people behind the curated Instagram feeds.