Poolside Fox

The pool lights rippled across the water's surface, casting dancing blue shadows against the backyard fence. I stood near the orange cooler, nursing a melted soda, watching everyone else live their best lives while I practiced my invisibility routine. Junior year, and I was still the designated observer at my own crush's party.

Then I spotted her. The fox.

Okay, not an actual fox. But this girl in an oversized orange hoodie (who wears hoodies to pool parties?) moved like she was hunting something. She kept circling the pool's edge, eyes darting between groups, disappearing behind the shed and reappearing somewhere else. Definitely up to something.

My spy instincts kicked in. I abandoned my safe spot near the cooler and trailed her at a careful distance, past the splash zone where Jake's crew was doing cannonballs, around the diving board where seniors were taking pre-swim pics.

She led me to the garden hose, where she was—checking her reflection? No. She was fixing her makeup. Orange lipstick. Bold choice.

She caught my eye in the hose's reflection and smirked. "Enjoying the view?"

My face burned. "I wasn't—I thought you were—"

"Spying?" She turned, orange hoodie dripping water now. "Habit. My brother's friends are always trash-talking someone back here. Figured I'd gather intel."

"Find anything good?" Why was I still talking?

"Jake thinks he's smooth." She gestured toward the pool, where my crush was currently demonstrating his terrible diving form. "But he's been trying to impress Maya all night, and she's literally texting someone else every time he turns away."

My stomach did this weird flip. Relief? Disappointment? Both?

"Wanna know something else?" She stepped closer, orange lipstick bright against the night. "Maya's been checking out the guy by the orange cooler all night."

My brain short-circuited. "Me?"

"Unless there's another guy in a black T-shirt who's been standing there for forty-five minutes." Her fox-like grin widened. "I'm Luna, by the way."

"Marcus."

"Well, Marcus." She grabbed my hand, her fingers cool from the water. "We're going to stop watching from the sidelines. Period."

She pulled me toward the pool, where someone had started playing that song everyone knows.

"But I didn't bring—"

"You don't need a swimsuit to cannonball." Luna winked. "Trust the fox."

We hit the water together, and for the first time all night, I wasn't watching. I was living.