Poolside Intelligence

The humidity was doing me zero favors. I wiped my sweaty palms on my denim shorts—again—and checked my phone for the third time in two minutes.

"You look like you're stalking someone," Maya said, sliding onto the lounge chair next to mine. "Also, you're missing the point of a pool party. The pool. That big blue wet thing people are jumping into."

"I'm not stalking," I said, though I absolutely was. "I'm gathering intelligence. There's a difference."

"You're such a spy, Jax. Just talk to him."

HIM. Jordan. My best friend since seventh grade, who'd spent the entire summer ghosting my texts but somehow found time to be here with some senior girl who looked like she walked straight out of a TikTok trend forecast. She was currently laughing at something Jordan said—like, actually laughing with her whole body, hair flipping back, hand on his arm.

I hated her. Not really. Okay, maybe a little.

"I can't just talk to him," I said. "What would I even say? 'Hey, remember how we were basically inseparable and now you're too busy for your oldest friend?'

Maya gave me that look. The one that meant I was being dramatic but she wasn't going to call me out on it. "Or you could say, 'Hey, want to play pool volleyball?' and actually see what happens."

Before I could respond, Jordan looked over and spotted us. His face did that thing where he tried to smile but it didn't reach his eyes. That's when I noticed it—the senior girl was already moving on to some other guy, and Jordan was just standing there alone in his swim trunks, looking like a lost puppy.

Something in my chest twisted.

"I'll be right back," I told Maya.

I walked over to the pool's edge, where Jordan was standing. The sun reflected off the water, creating these dancing light patterns across his face. He looked exhausted.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sorry I've been... you know."

"Whatever. You want to get out of here? There's a fox den behind the old middle school. The kits were born last week."

Jordan's eyes actually lit up. For real this time. "Wait, seriously? I thought you said that was just a rumor."

"I checked yesterday after work. They're real, and they're actually kind of chaos. One was trying to climb a tree and failing spectacularly."

He laughed—a genuine laugh this time. "Dude, we have to go."

We snuck out through the side gate, leaving the pool party behind. As we walked toward the old middle school, Jordan nudged my shoulder with his. "Thanks for not making it weird."

"Making what weird?"

"You know. Everything. My parents are fighting, and I've been staying at my uncle's, and I just didn't want to talk about it. But I missed this. Just... walking around with you and looking for wildlife like the nerds we are."

"You could've just said that, you know," I said, but I was smiling. "I'm your friend, Jordan. Not the FBI."

"Yeah, but you're a way better spy than the FBI could ever be." He grinned. "You notice everything."