Poolside Truths and Palm Dreams

The chlorine stung my eyes, but I didn't care. Standing at the edge of the **pool**, I watched everyone else living their best lives while I stood there like a total background character in someone else's movie. Emma's house was basically a mansion, and her backyard looked like something from a Instagram influencer's feed.

"Yo Marcus, you gonna stand there all day or actually swim?" Jake called out, doing a cannonball that splashed water everywhere. Typical Jake—always the center of attention, always making everything look easy.

I dipped my toes in. "Just vibing, bro. Just vibing."

My **dog** Buster had been following me around all morning, probably sensing my anxiety. He was currently passed out under a lounge chair, living his best life while I was overthinking everything.

"That's **bull** and you know it," Maya said, appearing beside me. She was quiet but observant, the kind of person who noticed everything but said nothing until it mattered. "You're overthinking it again."

"Am not."

"Are too. You're literally shaking."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a gummy **vitamin**. "Here. My mom says these help with anxiety or whatever. Or maybe that's just what she tells me so I'll actually take them."

I laughed and took it. "Your mom is weird, Maya."

"Tell me about it." She sat down on the edge of the pool, letting her feet dangle in the water. "So what's actually wrong?"

I looked around at everyone laughing and swimming and just... existing without overthinking every single thing. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired of feeling like I'm always on the outside looking in. Like everyone else got the memo on how to be a teenager, and I'm still waiting for mine."

Maya nodded slowly, then did something unexpected—she held out her **palm**. "Gimme your hand."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

I hesitated, then placed my hand in hers. Her palm was warm against mine, and for a second I forgot about everything else.

"We're all just winging it, Marcus. Even Jake. Even Emma. Nobody actually knows what they're doing. We're all just pretending while our brains figure things out."

A wave crashed into the side of the pool, spraying both of us. We laughed, and for the first time all day, I actually felt present. Maybe that was the thing—nobody had it figured out. We were all just treading water together.

"Race you to the other side," Maya challenged, already positioning herself to jump.

"You're on."

Maybe I didn't need to know everything. Maybe for now, just being in the pool was enough.