Operation Sunset Crush

The orange sunset reflected off the pool water, turning everything golden and unreal. I crouched behind the lounge chair, feeling like a total idiot. I was literally hiding from Jake at his own pool party.

"You're being so weird," Maya whispered, sliding up beside me with her phone. "Just go talk to him."

"I can't," I hissed. "I'm wearing this hideous orange shirt because my mom said it 'pops' and I look like a walking traffic cone. Also, I think I just saw him flirting with Sarah by the snack table."

Maya rolled her eyes so hard I worried they'd get stuck. "You're not a spy, Chloe. You're just watching your crush talk to someone else. There's a difference."

Then Jake's cat, a ridiculously fluffy calico named Pickles, trotted past and stopped to stare at me with judgment in its yellow eyes. Even the family cat thought I was pathetic.

"Watch," I said, suddenly desperate to prove I wasn't completely hopeless. "I'm gonna go over there and—"

But before I could finish that sentence, Jake spotted us. He started walking over, and my brain short-circuited.

"RUN," Maya whispered, but I misheard.

"What?"

"RUN!" she said louder. "I didn't mean actually—"

Too late. I was already running — in my orange traffic-cone shirt, past the judging cat, away from the boy I'd been crushing on for six months. I sprinted around the pool and didn't stop until I reached the side gate.

My phone buzzed five minutes later.

Jake: Why did you run away?

Me: [Long, complicated explanation about feeling awkward and overthinking everything]

Jake: lol I was coming over to ask if you wanted to play pool with us. Also I like your shirt.

I stared at my screen, floating somewhere between mortified and hopeful. Maybe being the world's worst spy wasn't such a catastrophe after all.