Poolside Pretending

The heat radiating off the concrete made everything shimmer like I was seeing it through a fever dream. I adjusted my snapback for the fiftieth time, even though I knew it looked stupid pulled low like that. But it was armor, okay? It was literally the only thing keeping me from having to make eye contact with anyone.

''Yo, Marcus, you gonna swim or just stand there looking like you're guarding the pool?'' Jordan called out, splashing water everywhere like the chaotic human cannonball she was. She'd been my best friend since seventh grade, back when we both thought Abercrombie was peak fashion.

''I'm contemplating the existential crisis of jumping into cold water,'' I shot back, trying to sound chill even though my heart was doing that weird fluttery thing it always did when Skylar was within a hundred feet.

Speaking of. Skylar emerged from the house like she'd just walked out of a music video, wearing this sundress that should have been illegal. My brain short-circuited. I swear I could feel my synapses firing in random directions.

Then Jason had to open his mouth. Jason, whose dad owned half the commercial real estate in town and who never let anyone forget it. ''Watch out, everyone! Marcus is about to drop some bull story about how he almost made varsity!''

Everyone laughed, but not like, with me. The worst part? He wasn't wrong. I had been spinning that yarn for weeks, trying to sound impressive when the truth was I'd barely made JV bench. The lies had piled up like a cable nobody wanted to untangle — messy and impossible to straighten out now.

Skylar looked at me, really looked at me, and I swear she saw everything. The insecurity. The pretending. The way I was basically screaming for attention like a desperate toddler.

''You coming in?'' she asked, and her voice was different somehow. Less performative.

I took a deep breath, pulled off my hat, and for the first time all day, actually looked people in the eye. ''Yeah,'' I said, and it came out steady. ''Yeah, I am.'n

The water was freezing and I probably looked like a flailing idiot, but as I surfaced, gasping and laughing at nothing in particular, I caught Skylar's smile. And somehow, that was enough.