Fox in the Chlorine

Marcus stood at the edge of the pool, clutching his stupid vitamin D supplement like it was some kind of talisman against awkwardness. His mom had shoved the bottle at him that morning, going on about how he never went outside anymore, which was rich considering she was the one who'd signed him up for swim team in the first place.

"You coming in or what?"

He jumped. It was Fox—real name Sarah, but nobody called her that anymore. She was already in the water, treading easily while the rest of the group flailed around like dying fish. Fox with her wild red hair and that smile that made everyone feel like they were in on some joke they didn't quite understand.

"Yeah," Marcus managed, though his throat felt like he'd swallowed a gallon of pool water already. "Just. You know. Warming up."

Fox rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. "You've been 'warming up' for like, ten minutes, Marcus. It's not that deep."

But it was that deep. The deep end, anyway. Six feet of crystal blue water that might as well have been the Pacific Ocean for how much Marcus wanted to jump in it. Everyone else was already splashing around, acting like this was normal, like they didn't all see each other in homeroom every single day where Fox was the kind of cool that didn't have to try and Marcus was still figuring out if his new backpack was too dorky.

She swam over to the edge, resting her arms on the pool deck like she owned the place. "Hey, you gotta help me with chem homework later? I'm actually gonna fail if I don't understand ions by Friday."

Marcus stared at her. "You want help? From me?"

"Uh, yeah?" Fox splashed water at him, just a little. "You're smart. I've seen your grades. Don't act all surprised."

The vitamin bottle was slipping in his sweaty palm. He shoved it in his bag.

"Sure," he said, and then, because he was feeling reckless or something, "only if you teach me how not to drown doing laps."

Fox's face lit up. "Deal. Now get in here, loser."

He jumped. The water was shocking cold, perfect and terrible all at once. When he came up sputtering, Fox was already there, grinning like she'd planned this whole thing.

"See?" she said. "Not that deep."

Marcus wiped water from his eyes and actually laughed. Maybe she was right. About the pool, anyway. Everything else he'd have to figure out as he went.