Lightning in the Water

Marcus stood at the edge of the **pool**, chlorine stinging his nose, heart hammering like it'd burst through his ribcage. Summer before freshman year, and Jasmine's pool party was make-or-break territory. His older brother Deon had given him the whole don't-be-lame speech that morning, which was rich coming from someone who wore Crocs unironically.

The **hat** was the problem. His grandma had knitted it—a navy blue beanie with a pom-pom the size of a grapefruit—and insisted he wear it because she'd made it special. Grandma didn't get that fourteen-year-olds didn't wear beanies to pool parties in July. But he'd promised.

Then lightning struck—literally. A crack of thunder shook the sky, and suddenly everyone was scrambling inside like the cops had raided the place. Rain came down in sheets, turning the backyard into chaos.

Marcus ended up squeezed onto the couch next to Jasmine, his stupid pom-pom hat somehow still perched on his head. She looked at it, then at him, and giggled. That devastating, pretty giggle that could make-or-break your entire existence.

"Nice hat," she said.

"My grandma made it," he mumbled, ready to die on the spot.

"That's actually kind of adorable though?" She reached out and flicked the pom-pom. "My grandma crochets me those ugly Christmas sweaters every year. I wear them to family dinner and take them off the second I leave."

Marcus laughed. For real this time.

"Deon keeps giving me all this **bull** about how I need to be cool for high school," he found himself saying. "But honestly? I think I'd rather just wear the hat."

Jasmine grinned, and something in his chest did that fluttery thing.

"Wait, you never went **swimming**?"

"Nah. I was gonna, but then the whole weather apocalypse happened."

"Same," she said, conspiratorial. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to race, but now we're just being antisocial together on the couch."

Another flash of lightning lit up the window, but the panic in his chest had settled into something warmer. Sometimes the whole world could feel like it was cracking apart, but you could still end up exactly where you needed to be.