Poolside Surveillance

Marcus pressed his back against the locker room wall, heart hammering like he'd just finished a lap instead of merely existing near the pool area. The annual summer swim party at Jasmine's house—the social event of the season—had turned into his personal surveillance mission.

"Yo Marcus, you good?" His best friend Dev materialized beside him, holding a suspiciously bright orange cup. "You've been lurking by the chips for twenty minutes. People gonna think you're a spy or something."

Marcus snorted. "Ha ha. Just waiting for the right moment."

"The right moment to talk to the girl you've been crushing on since seventh grade?" Dev grinned. "Bro, it's been two hours. The ice in your orange soda is probably melting."

The swimming pool area was chaos—music blasting, bodies everywhere, splashing and laughter. Marcus spotted Jasmine by the deep end, looking impossibly effortless in conversation with three other girls. She caught his eye for a split second and smiled. His stomach did this weird flutter thing that felt less like butterflies and more like entire birds taking flight.

"Now or never," Dev pushed him gently. "What's the worst that happens?"

"She laughs in my face and I transfer schools?"

"Dramatic. But valid."

Marcus took a breath and started toward her, navigating through clusters of people. His phone buzzed—Dev had sent a meme of a tiny hedgehog facing down a lion with the caption: YOU GOT THIS.

He made it to the pool's edge just as Jasmine turned toward him fully. Water droplets glistened on her shoulders like tiny constellations.

"Hey!" She grinned. "I was wondering when you'd stop hiding. Your orange soda is probably warm by now."

"Yeah, well." Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not exactly smooth."

"You're doing okay so far." She stepped closer, her smile widening. "Want to go get fresh drinks? And maybe actually talk this time?"

His heart did something complicated and wonderful. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd really like that."

Dev caught his eye from across the pool and gave him a thumbs-up. Some surveillance mission this had turned out to be—Marcus had been spotted, and somehow, that was exactly what he'd wanted all along.