Pool Party Apocalypse

Leo felt like a literal zombie in this bear costume. The thing smelled like three years of high school sweat and questionable decisions, which honestly, described most of junior year anyway. He'd gotten roped into being the mascot at today's baseball game because the actual guy got mono, and now the baseball captain was somehow convinced Leo should come to their victory pool party.

"Yo bear-man, you coming or what?" Tyler called from the pool edge, shirt already off, muscles everywhere. Tyler was the kind of guy who probably never overthought anything in his life.

Leo's brain supplied approximately 47 reasons why this was a terrible idea. The bear suit alone. The fact he couldn't actually swim well. The social hierarchy at work here. But then Maya—Maya who sat behind him in English and wrote poetry in the margins of her notebook—was walking over to the pool too, and suddenly Leo was sweating inside this polyester monstrosity for a whole different reason.

"You gonna wear that in?" she asked, grinning. Something about her smile made him want to do the most ridiculous thing possible.

"Yeah," he heard himself saying. "Why not."

The baseball team had already claimed the deep end. Someone pushed Tyler in, and he came up spluttering, yelling something about revenge. The energy shifted—everyone looking at each other with that sudden collective consciousness that meant something incredibly stupid was about to happen.

"BEAR FIGHT!" someone screamed, and suddenly three baseball players were charging toward him.

Leo's life flashed before his eyes, but instead of running, he lunged. He hit the water still wearing the head, the costume heavy and ridiculous, and came up sputtering to Maya laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach.

"You're insane," she said, but she was smiling like she meant it as good.

The baseball guys dogpiled him after that, all of them thrashing around in this chaotic wrestling match that made zero sense but felt like the most natural thing in the world. Leo stayed in that bear suit for two more hours, until his fingers pruned and the thing weighed approximately a thousand pounds, but he kept catching Maya's eye across the pool and thinking maybe, just maybe, he'd finally figured out how to play this game.