Lightning in the Chlorinated Deep

The pool party at Jessica's house was supposed to be chill, but my stomach was doing that thing where it feels like tiny lightning strikes are zapping through my insides. I'd been crushing on Alex since seventh period English started, and tonight felt like the moment to finally shoot my shot. No more lurking in the friend zone, no more being the awkward background character in my own life.

"You good?" Marcus asked, flopping onto the lounge chair next to mine. He's my best friend since we got paired for that disastrous science project last year, the one where we almost set off the fire alarm trying to cook spinach chips for the health fair. "You look like you're about to throw up."

"I'm fine," I lied, adjusting my swimsuit straps for the fifteenth time. "Just vibing."

Alex emerged from the pool like some kind of fox, all sleek confidence and effortless charm, water dripping from dark hair that I'd spent way too many hours thinking about. My brain short-circuited. This was it. Time to make a move.

But then I saw it—a piece of bright green spinach wedged between my front teeth, visible from space, mocking my entire existence. I'd eaten that spinach dip Jessica's mom made like two hours ago, and apparently, nobody had the heart to tell me I'd been walking around with a salad garnish in my smile.

"Yo, you got a little—" Marcus started, but it was too late. Alex was already walking over.

"Hey!" Alex said, smiling that smile that made my knees feel like jelly. "You joining us? The water's perfect."

I froze. Do I play it cool and risk the spinach situation? Do I run to the bathroom and look like I'm bailing? Do I own the spinach and hope Alex finds it endearing?

"Actually," I said, my voice cracking, "I was just about to—" and then my foot caught on the pool edge and I went in, fully clothed, phone and all, in the most ungraceful flop ever witnessed by humankind.

When I surfaced, spluttering and humiliated, Alex was laughing—but not mean laughing. Like, actually laughing with me.

"That was legendary," Alex said, extending a hand. "Come on. The pool's way better with you in it anyway."

Maybe the spinach was still there. Maybe my phone was dead. But as Alex pulled me up, lightning flashed somewhere beyond the backyard fence, and for the first time all night, the zapping in my stomach felt exactly like excitement.