Lifeguard Duty

Marcus sat in the lifeguard chair at Splash Zone, dipping his toes in the pool water during his break. The chlorine smell was basically his cologne at this point.

"Yo Marcus!"

He practically fell out of his chair. It was Maya—his lab partner, his friend, and definitely the person he spent way too much time low-key spying on via Instagram Stories. Her hair was wet, and she had that perfect post-swim glow that made his stomach do those embarrassing little flips.

"Maya? What are you doing here?"

"Transfer student orientation tour," she said, dropping her towel two chairs down. "My parents are making me do every single school event before senior year. Positively unhinged behavior, honestly."

Marcus laughed. "That's actually tragic."

"Right?" She flipped her wet hair over her shoulder. "Anyway, I saw your post about working here and figured I'd come say hey. Since we're friends and stuff."

Friends. That word hit different lately.

"Yeah, for sure," Marcus said, trying to sound chill instead of absolutely panicked. "You know I was just about to go on break. Want to grab food from the snack bar? My treat."

Maya's face lit up. "Only if you get me those insanely overpriced nachos."

"Deal."

As they walked toward the concession stand, their hands kept brushing against each other. Every time, Marcus's heart sped up like he was the one who needed saving.

He'd been spying on her social media for months now—okay, that sounded creepy when he said it out loud in his head, but it wasn't like that. It was just... keeping tabs. Watching her stories. Double-tapping basically everything. Normal friend behavior, right?

But the way she looked at him sometimes made him wonder if she was doing the exact same thing.

"Marcus?"

"Yeah?"

Maya stopped walking. The sounds of splashing water and screaming kids faded into the background. "I, uh, I told my friend Jordan about you. From my old school."

"Oh?" Marcus's throat went dry.

"Yeah, I might've mentioned that you're basically the best person I know at this new school. And Jordan was like, 'sounds like someone has a crush.'"

She stepped closer. Her eyes searched his face like she was trying to read something written there.

"And I was like, 'no way, we're just friends.' But then I caught myself watching your stories multiple times and—"

"Wait," Marcus interrupted. "You watch my stories more than once?"

"That's what you got from that?" Maya laughed, but her cheeks were actually pink. "Yes, Marcus. I've been low-key spying on your Instagram since literally October. Are you happy now?"

Marcus couldn't help it. He grinned. "Pretty ecstatic, actually."

"You're impossible." She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "So? Are we gonna keep pretending we're just friends, or what?"

"I don't know," Marcus said, stepping closer. "I mean, I was kinda hoping to ask you to homecoming. But if you're gonna keep calling me your friend—"

Maya kissed him.

Right there by the concession stand, with the smell of chlorine and funnel cake in the air, with kids screaming and water splashing in the background. Her lips were soft and tasted like tropical lip balm, and Marcus's brain completely short-circuited.

When she pulled back, she was grinning. "Still just friends?"

Marcus shook his head, dazed. "Nope. Definitely upgraded status."

"Good." She took his hand. "Now buy me those nachos, boyfriend."

He'd never been so happy to spend fifteen dollars on processed cheese product in his entire life.