Poolside Pyramid Scheme

The chlorine stung my eyes, but I kept them open. Watching.

Trent leaned against the chain-link fence by the pool, baseball cap backward, surrounded by his varsity jacket crew. They formed this perfect pyramid of popularity—Trent at the top, then the two starters, then the benchwarmers at the base. A literal social pyramid.

I was just the pool boy. Literally.

"Yo, Marco!" Trent yelled. "More towels, my guy!"

I grabbed the stack. This was it. The moment. All summer I'd been plotting how to climb that pyramid, and I finally had my in.

See, I'd been working on something. Something that would change everything.

I dropped the towels at their table. "Hey Trent, check this out."

I pulled out my phone. For the past three months, I'd been secretly running the most sophisticated sports betting operation at Northwood High. A pyramid scheme, sure, but a *genius* one. People placed bets through me, I took a cut, and everyone won. Until they didn't.

But that wasn't the reveal.

"Remember that baseball you signed for me at the start of summer?" I asked.

Trent shrugged. "Whatever, man."

"Well," I said, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from my pocket, "I actually sold it on eBay for $450. And with that money, I started investing in crypto, and now—" I paused for effect "—I just bought this pool."

Silence. The kind where you can hear the water filter humming.

"What?" Trent said.

"My uncle's the property manager," I explained. "He technically doesn't own it, but he runs it, and he's letting me 'manage' it. So technically, I'm your boss now."

I waited for the respect. The pyramid to flip.

Instead, Trent burst out laughing. "Bro, you can't even swim without getting water up your nose."

They all laughed. The pyramid held.

But then—that tiny freshman, the one who always sat alone studying—walked up to my table. "Hey. Are you the guy who runs the baseball fantasy league?"

I blinked. "Yeah?"

"My brother needs a commissioner," she said. "He'll pay you fifty bucks."

The pyramid didn't flip. But I built my own.

"Deal," I said, grinning.