Poolside Undead

I felt like a actual zombie. Finals week had turned my brain into mush, and now here I was at Jessica's pool party, clutching a bottle of orange Gatorade like it was the elixir of life. My mom had made me take some vitamin D supplement before leaving, muttering something about how I never see sunlight anymore.

"You alive, Marcus?" Tyler called out, doing a cannonball that sent water splashing everywhere. "You look dead."

"I'm functioning on three hours of sleep and caffeine," I yelled back. "Close enough to being a zombie."

The real problem wasn't the exhaustion. It was that Chloe was here. Chloe, who I'd had a crush on since seventh grade. Chloe, who was currently lounging by the pool in this bright orange bikini that made it impossible to look anywhere else. Not that I was staring. Definitely not.

Everyone was playing truth or dare because apparently we were still twelve years old. When it was my turn, Jessica smirked.

"Truth or dare, Marcus?"

"Dare," I said, because truth would lead to questions about my non-existent love life, and I wasn't ready to have that conversation in front of everyone.

"I dare you to ask Chloe if she wants to go to the movies with you sometime. Like, actually ask. For real."

The entire pool area went silent. Even the water seemed to stop moving.

I walked over to where she was sitting, my heart pounding so hard I was surprised everyone couldn't hear it. She looked up, pushing her sunglasses onto her head.

"Hey Marcus," she said. And then, before I could say anything remotely smooth: "I was hoping you'd come over."

"You were?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to get your attention all day. You were too busy being a zombie to notice."

She laughed, and it was this genuine, unguarded sound that made me forget every clever thing I'd planned to say.

"So," I said, suddenly feeling brave, "do you want to go to the movies sometime? With me?"

"I thought you'd never ask."