Pool Party Paranoia

The baseball cap pulled low over my eyes was my only armor. I'd spent the entire summer orchestrating this moment—timing it perfectly so I'd arrive at Tyler's pool party exactly when everyone would be swimming.

I spotted him immediately. Tyler, my former best friend, the one who'd ghosted me eighth grade year without explanation. He was doing cannonballs off the diving board, laughing like nothing had changed. Like he hadn't left me on read for six months straight.

My iPhone burned in my pocket. For weeks, I'd been playing detective—spying on his public Instagram, analyzing every story for clues about why we'd drifted apart. Was it something I said? Something I did? The algorithm fed me fragments: sunset beach pics with his new lacrosse friends, a group photo where I'd been cropped out, captions like "living my best life" that felt like personal attacks.

Now, watching him surrounded by people who actually knew current-version Tyler, I realized how pathetic I'd become. A spy in my own social circle, obsessing over someone who'd clearly moved on.

"You gonna swim or just lurk?" A voice behind me made me jump.

I turned to find Maya, a girl from my English class. She was adjusting her own hat—this ridiculous neon pink bucket hat she'd worn every day since freshman year.

"I'm good," I mumbled.

"Tyler asked about you," she said casually. "Like, five minutes ago. He said you haven't replied to his texts since summer started."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

She gestured to my phone. "Check."

I unlocked my iPhone and there they were: messages from Tyler all summer. Hey, are you coming to my party? Miss you, man. Why aren't you responding? All blocked by some stupid settings glitch I'd never noticed because I'd been too busy stalking his public posts.

The swimming pool suddenly looked different. Tyler waved from the water, smiling like he'd been waiting for me.

"Fix your settings," Maya said, already walking toward the pool. "And take off the hat—it's giving serial killer energy."

I pulled off the cap. The summer air felt different without my armor. Tyler was right there, treading water, waiting for me to jump in.