Poolside Surveillance

Marcus adjusted his snapback, trying to look casual as he leaned against the chain-link fence. From here, he had the perfect view of Jennifer's backyard pool party — the social event of the summer that somehow hadn't made it to his inbox. He wasn't technically a spy, but watching the cool kids splash around from behind the bushes felt close enough.

The water shimmered like something from a music video, all turquoise and inviting. Jennifer's crew — the ones who sat at the sacred center table in the cafeteria — floated on inflatable flamingos like they owned them. Marcus had practiced his cannonball. He'd even considered showing up anyway, claiming his invite must have gotten lost in cyberspace. But his phone had stayed silent all week.

"Yo, Marcus!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin. Sam appeared beside him, holding two sodas. "You gonna stand here being creepy all day, or you gonna come through?"

Marcus blinked. "I'm not... I'm just..."

"Spying?" Sam grinned. "Same. But then I realized Jennifer's cousin added me to the Insta story and was like, 'why aren't you here?' So apparently the invites were just messy. Not a snub. Just, you know, typical chaos."

The pool gate swung open. Jennifer herself waved them over. "Finally! We were waiting for you two to stop lurking and come actually swim. The water's perfect!"

Marcus's chest did that stupid fluttery thing it always did when she talked to him, which was basically never. He looked at Sam, who just shrugged and headed toward the party.

Sometimes the worst case scenario was just a story you told yourself. Marcus pushed through the gate, and for the first time all summer, he didn't feel like he was watching from the outside.