Poolside Protocol

Marcus pulled his beanie down lower, even though it was eighty-five degrees and the chlorine from the **swimming** pool already made his forehead sweat. Summer league practice had started five minutes ago, and he was still lurking by the snack bar, heart hammering like a bass drop at a rave.

Everyone else looked like they belonged here. Tyler's squad dominated the lanes with effortless confidence, their Speedros coordinated like they'd planned it in the group chat. Meanwhile, Marcus felt like the new kid at a party where everyone already knew the inside jokes. He'd spent the entire first week pretending to text people, basically **spy**-ing on their conversations from the sidelines, trying to decode the social hierarchy without making eye contact.

"Yo, Marcus!" Tyler called, waving him over. "We're doing relays, you're with me and Jenna."

Marcus's stomach did a full rotation. Jenna. The girl who somehow made a wet ponytail look like a editorial shoot, who'd smiled at him yesterday when he literally face-planted getting out of the pool.

He shuffled over, tugging his **hat** even lower. What if they'd been talking about him? What if this was some elaborate prank?

The practice went okay until coach announced the team dinner at Rosa's Pizza afterward. Marcus agonized over his outfit for twenty minutes at home, changed three times, and almost bailed. His cat, Nacho, watched from the bed like he was judging Marcus's entire life choices.

At the restaurant, Marcus sat wedged between Jenna and some sophomore whose name he'd already forgotten. He picked at his slice, hyper-aware of every movement, every laugh. Were they making fun of how he held his pizza? Was his laugh weird?

Then it happened. He bit into his spinach calzone, and something felt… off. Jenna's eyes went wide.

"You have a little…" She mimed her own front teeth.

Marcus's face burned hotter than the pizza oven. He'd been walking around with **spinach** stuck in his braces for who knows how long. This was it. His social life was over. He'd be known as Spinach Boy until graduation.

Jenna started laughing. Not mean-girl laughing, but the real kind—shoulders shaking, eyes scrunching up. Then Tyler joined in. Soon the whole table was losing it, and Marcus found himself laughing too because honestly? It was pretty ridiculous.

"Dude," Jenna said, still giggling. "My cat gets stuff stuck in his whiskers all the time. Nacho, right? You posted about him on the team chat."

Wait. She'd noticed? She'd actually read his messages?

Marcus pulled off his hat and ran a hand through his damp hair. Maybe he wasn't invisible after all. Maybe being part of the team didn't mean being perfect—it meant being the guy with spinach in his teeth who everyone remembered anyway.