Shallow End Courage

Marcus's palms were sweating so bad he could practically fill a water bottle. Which was ironic, considering he was standing at the edge of Jessica's above-ground pool, surrounded by half the sophomore class laughing and splashing like they hadn't a care in the world.

"Yo Marcus, stop lurking and get in here," Tyler called, doing a perfect cannonball that sent water cascading over the side. "You've been hovering like a ghost for twenty minutes."

Marcus clenched his fists, his heart doing that stupid fluttery thing whenever Jessica laughed at something Cody said. She looked incredible in her yellow bikini, her hair wet and slicked back, water droplets racing down her shoulders like they were in a hurry to get somewhere.

Somewhere cooler than Marcus's armpits, definitely.

"I'm good," Marcus mumbled, but his traitorous feet were already kicking off his slides.

"What are you, scared?" Cody teased, that familiar smirk playing on his lips. "Don't be a wimp, bro. Be a bull. Charge in there."

The air quotes around "bull" weren't necessary. Everyone knew Cody was referring to Marcus's disastrous attempt at joining the football team last year, where he'd been flattened within three seconds of his first scrimmage. The nickname "Bull" had followed him since, mostly because it was the exact opposite of everything Marcus was.

But Jessica was looking at him now, really looking at him, and something in her expression made his stomach flip-flop.

"You coming?" she asked, and suddenly Marcus was sliding into the pool with all the grace of a baby giraffe on ice.

The water shocked his skin—cool and perfect—and as he broke the surface, wiping water from his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with her. Up close, she had these tiny freckles across her nose, and her eyes held this light that made everything else fade into background noise.

"Hey," she said, splashing him gently.

"Hey," Marcus managed, and then his palms weren't sweating anymore because they were underwater, and somehow that made everything easier.

Maybe being a bull wasn't about charging into things. Maybe it was about showing up, even when your hands shook and you felt like everyone was watching.

"Want to play chicken?" Jessica asked, already moving toward him. "You can be on my team."

Marcus grinned. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

For the first time all day, his hands felt steady.