Sink or Swim

Marcus stood at the edge of the pool party, clutching his red Solo cup like a lifeline. Everyone else was already in the water, splashing and laughing like they'd been friends since kindergarten. Which they basically had.

"You coming in or what?" Jenna called from the pool. She flicked water at him, droplets catching the sunlight like little diamonds. Jenna, with her perfect hair and her perfect laugh and her perfect everything.

Marcus's throat went dry. "Yeah, just gotta—"

"You always do this," his brother Tyrell said, appearing beside him. "Always on the edge, never jumping in. You're practically running from fun at this point."

Marcus opened his mouth to argue, but what could he say? That he was still the new kid after six months? That every time he tried to break into their friend group, it felt like trying to breathe underwater?

Then he heard it—a frantic barking from the bushes behind the pool fence.

"What's that noise?" Jenna asked, treading water.

Without thinking, Marcus vaulted over the fence and found himself face-to-face with the ugliest, most desperate-looking mutt he'd ever seen. Matted fur, one ear that flopped, eyes that screamed HELP ME.

The dog was tangled in something—mesh netting, probably from someone's garden. It whimpered, its whole body shaking.

Marcus dropped to his knees, not caring about his brand new jeans. "Hey buddy, hey—it's okay."

He worked at the netting with fingers that suddenly weren't clumsy at all. The dog went still, watching him with eyes that said everything.

"Marcus?" Jenna's voice from the other side of the fence. "You okay?"

"Found a dog!" he called back. "He's stuck!"

By the time he freed the dog, his entire friend group was gathered at the fence. The mutt immediately glued itself to Marcus's side, tail thumping like crazy against his leg.

"That's the weirdest dog I've ever seen," Tyrell said, but he was smiling.

"He's perfect," Marcus said without thinking.

Later, after the dog's owner had been found (old Mrs. Henderson from down the street) and Marcus had been declared a hero and Jenna had asked if he wanted to go swimming properly next weekend, Marcus sat on his porch with his brother.

"You were actually out there, huh?" Tyrell said, bumping his shoulder. "Like, really in it. Not watching from the edge."

Marcus thought about the dog's terrified eyes. About how easy it had been to just act instead of overthink. About how Jenna had looked at him—not with pity or confusion, but like she was actually seeing him.

"Yeah," Marcus said, a grin spreading across his face. "I think I'm finally done swimming against the current."