Poolside Papaya

I was already regretting coming to Chloe's party before I even stepped through the gate. The backyard was transformed into a tropical nightmare – tiki torches, limp paper lanterns, and a playlist that sounded like a cashier's worst nightmare. But then I saw him. Lucas, leaning against the pool fence, looking entirely too good in his swim trunks.

"Hey!" someone called, and I realized I'd been staring. I quickly fumbled for my iPhone, pretending to be absorbed in something incredibly important. No new notifications, obviously. Just my thumb hovering over Instagram like a loser.

The real drama started when Chloe's mom came out carrying a bowl of fruit salad. "Papaya for everyone!" she announced with terrifying enthusiasm. Nobody moved. Papaya? At a pool party? I caught Lucas's eye and we shared a moment of mutual secondhand embarrassment. He actually smirked at me. My heart did this little flip thing that was pathetic, honestly.

Then came the goldfish incident.

"Hey, watch this!" Tyler, who'd been boasting about his pet goldfish Goldie Hawn all week, pulled a ziploc bag from his pocket. Before anyone could process what was happening, he'd released an actual goldfish into the pool.

"Dude!" Lucas shouted, laughing. "You can't just –"

"Goldie needs her freedom!" Tyler declared, already drunk on two Natty Lights.

The goldfish – poor Goldie – immediately started swimming toward the deep end, and suddenly half the party was in the water, someone's mom was googling "goldfish survival chlorinated pool," and I was standing there, frozen, until Lucas grabbed my hand.

"Coming?"

"I –" My phone buzzed in my other hand. My mom. ARE YOU HAVING FUN? TIME TO COME HOME?

I looked at the chaos in the pool – people splashing, someone trying to net the fish, Chloe crying about her pool water – and then at Lucas, waiting for my answer.

"Yeah," I said, pocketing my phone. "I'm staying."

And just like that, I jumped in, shoes and all. The papaya could wait. Goldie could wait. Everything could wait except this moment – wet, ridiculous, and absolutely perfect.