Poolside Summer

Marcus stood at the edge of the pool, clutching his phone like it was a lifeline. The graduation party raged around him—sophom cannonballs, juniors blasting terrible music, seniors trying way too hard to look unbothered. His best friend Sam had already ditched him for some girls from the AP Bio group, leaving Marcus to awkwardly hover by the snack table.

He'd almost worked up the courage to actually get in the water when Jenna walked by. THE Jenna. Who'd sat behind him in homeroom all year and somehow never learned his name despite them sharing approximately 473 awkward eye contacts. She was wearing this ridiculous floppy sun hat that swallowed half her face and still managed to look cute.

"Hey," she said. "You gonna stand there all night or what?"

Marcus froze. His brain short-circuited. "I, uh..."

Then it happened. His stomach dropped. The spinach artichoke dip from dinner. It was definitely, absolutely stuck in his teeth. He could feel it mocking him.

"You good?" Jenna asked, tilting her head like a confused puppy.

"Fine!" Marcus practically shouted. "Just... thinking. Deep thoughts. About... water."

She grinned. "You're such a dork." And then she just cannonballed into the pool, hat flying off, splashing water EVERYWHERE—including all over Marcus's white shirt.

Marcus stared at his dripping clothes. Jenna surfaced, gasping for air, hair plastered to her face. "Your turn!" she yelled.

That's when he noticed it. A tiny teddy bear tattoo on her shoulder. A matching one to what his sister had gotten last summer before she moved away for college. A sudden wave of nostalgia hit him, thinking about all the moments that felt huge at the time but were really just... moments. Just stupid, messy, perfect moments.

Marcus took a breath, checked his teeth with his tongue (spinach free, thank GOD), and jumped in. The water was cold, perfect, and for the first time all night, he wasn't overthinking. He was just there. Swimming next to the girl with the ridiculous hat and the bear tattoo, while his friend Sam finally broke away from his Bio group to cannonball into the pool beside them.

Maybe high school wasn't so terrifying after all. Maybe it was just messy. And maybe that was okay.