Poolside Apocalypse

The chlorine stung my eyes, but not as much as the sight of Jason and Chloe cannonballing into the deep end together. I clung to the pool's edge like my life depended on it, which wasn't far from the truth considering I'd only completed two weeks of swimming lessons before freshman year.

"Yo Marcus, you good?" Jason called out, droplets of water running down his stupidly perfect abs. "You've been practically merged with that wall since you got here."

"I'm observing," I lied. "Strategic assessment."

"Of what? The shallow end?" Chloe laughed, treading water beside him. They looked like they belonged in a teen drama, and I looked like I'd accidentally wandered onto set wearing last season's everything.

The pool gate creaked. Emma, my neighbor and definitely not my crush even though my heart said otherwise, walked in carrying a Tupperware container. My stomach did that embarrassing flip thing.

"Hey," she said, setting the container on a lounge chair. "My mom went overboard at the farmer's market again. Anyone want papaya?"

Jason made a face like he'd just smelled a gym locker room. "Pass. That stuff looks like alien innards."

"It's actually good," Emma said, slicing into the orange flesh. "Just... try it with lime."

I pulled myself from the water because suddenly I needed to be exactly where she was. My wet shorts plastered themselves uncomfortably to my legs. Smooth.

"I'll try it," I said, immediately regretting every decision that led to this moment.

Emma handed me a slice. The first bite hit my tongue — weirdly musky, somehow sweet and not sweet at the same time. Not terrible, but definitely not about to become my personality trait.

"Well?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Unexpected," I managed. "Like... finding out your dog secretly knows how to open doors."

She laughed, and I mentally high-fived myself.

Then Chloe shrieked. "OH MY GOD something just brushed against my leg!"

"Probably a leaf," Jason said.

"Leaves don't feel like THAT. Something's in here with us. Something DEAD."

Emma's eyes widened. "Wait, didn't Mr. Henderson say his goldfish escaped last week? He said he found the bowl overturned and...

"A goldfish?" Chloe scrambled toward the ladder. "That's worse! That means it grew mutant huge in the dark water and now it's coming for us."

"Or it died," Emma said practically. "And became a zombie goldfish."

We all froze.

"Zombie goldfish?" Jason repeated. "That's not even scientifically—"

"SWIMMING FOR MY LIFE," Chloe screamed, literally flinging herself over the pool's edge like her life depended on it. Jason followed, splashing half the pool onto the concrete.

Emma and I stood there, papaya slice forgotten in my hand. The water rippled innocently in the breeze.

"That was," she said, "the most dramatic reaction to a pond fish I've ever witnessed."

"Worth it though," I said, and for some reason, we both started laughing. Hard. The kind where you can't breathe and your abs hurt and nothing is actually that funny but somehow everything is.

"Want to finish that?" She pointed at my papaya slice.

"Nah," I tossed it into the trash. "I think I've had enough excitement for one day."

"Same." She hesitated. "Hey, there's this zombie movie marathon at the Rex next weekend. My friends bailed, but...

"Yeah," I said, trying to play it cool. "Yeah, I'd be into that."

She smiled. And for the first time all day, I completely forgot I was wearing last season's everything.