Pool Party Surveillance

The invitation said pool party at Jenna's house, but my brain heard social suicide mission. I'd been crushing on Jenna since seventh period algebra, and now I was actually going to her house. Like, on purpose.

I spent forty-five minutes choosing between my orange swim trunks and the blue ones that made me look like a rejected Smurf. Orange it was. Mom dropped me off two blocks away because apparently being seen with your parents violates some unwritten teenage geneva convention.

Jenna's backyard was already buzzing with people from school. I spotted Marcus and his golden retriever, Buster, doing laps around the **pool**. Buster was living his best life. I was mentally calculating how long I needed to stay before I could bail without looking lame.

"Hey! You made it!" Jenna materialized beside me, wearing this floral bikini situation that momentarily shut down my entire nervous system. "Want some fruit? My mom went all out at the specialty market."

She handed me a skewer with chunks of **papaya** and melon. Papaya. Since when did we eat papaya at pool parties? Was this a thing now? I took a bite and tried to look casual while internally googling "how to eat exotic fruit without embarrassing yourself."

"So," Jenna said, all fake casual, "I saw you looking at me in algebra today."

My face temperature rivaled the sun. "I was not."

"You were totally. I wasn't gonna say anything, but my friend Chloe has been literally **spy**ing on you all week because she thinks you're cute."

Wait. WHAT?

"Chloe? From my English class?"

"Duh." She grabbed my arm and literally dragged me across the patio. "Come on. Chloe's over there, and Buster keeps trying to steal her snacks."

Long story short: Chloe thought I was cute, I thought papaya was actually pretty good, and Buster did steal her snacks. We spent the rest of the party sitting on the **dog**'s favorite blanket while Jenna played matchmaker like it was her part-time job.

I left Jenna's house with Chloe's number, a new appreciation for tropical fruit, and the realization that sometimes the scariest adventures are actually just beginnings in disguise.