Pool Party Surveillance

Maya's text had said casual pool party, but standing at the edge of Chloe's backyard, staring at a dozen kids from school in various states of swimsuit-clad confidence, I felt anything but chill. My one-piece was somehow both too tight and too loose, and I hadn't even gone swimming yet.

"You coming in or what?" yelled Tyler, doing a cannonball that sent water spraying everywhere. Chloe's golden retriever, Bear—a massive fluffball of a dog—shook himself off directly next to me, soaking my already-damp towel.

"Maybe in a bit," I mumbled, backing toward the house. That's when I saw it: movement behind the pool shed. Someone was watching us. Spying.

My heart did that stupid fluttery thing. Was it the weird neighbor everyone whispered about? Some creep from social media who'd tracked the party posts? I nudged Harper, my designated safe person for the day. "Hey, what's behind that shed?"

"Just woods," she said, following my gaze. "Why?"

"I saw someone. Watching."

Harper's eyes widened. "Dude, same. Earlier, I thought I saw—"

Suddenly Bear starting barking like crazy at the shed. Tyler climbed out of the pool, dripping wet. "Bear! Chill!" The dog wouldn't stop. Something was definitely back there.

Without thinking, I marched over to the shed, my flip-flops slapping against the concrete. "Hello? Someone there?"

A figure emerged, face red with embarrassment. It was Ethan—the quiet kid from my English class who I'd caught looking at me twice this week. He was holding his phone up, camera pointed toward the party.

"I wasn't—I was just—" He lowered the phone. "My mom made me come. She said I need to be more social. I was waiting for the right moment to... I don't know, actually exist."

Bear trotted over and sniffed Ethan's sneakers, tail wagging.

"You've been spying?" I asked, though the word felt wrong now.

"Practicing," he said quietly. "I was going to pretend to text someone confidently and then naturally join in. I've been rehearsing. For twenty minutes."

Something about his miserable honesty made me actually laugh. "That's literally the most socially anxious thing I've ever heard."

"I know," he groaned. "I'm the worst."

"No," I said, surprising myself. "You're just bear-ing it, like the rest of us." I nodded toward the pool. "I haven't gone swimming yet because I'm convinced everyone will judge my dive."

Ethan's eyes lit up. "You too?"

"Me too what?"

"Overthinking everything?"

I smiled. For the first time all afternoon, the pool didn't look so terrifying. "Wanna go swimming together?"

He grinned. "Yeah. Actually, yeah."

"Cool," I said. "But don't make me jump first."

"Deal."