Snapback Secrets

Leo's snapback never came off. Not during math class, not at lunch, definitely not in the cafeteria line. It was practically welded to his head — a defense mechanism against his perpetually messy hair and, more importantly, against anyone noticing he was basically living a lie.

"Bro, you coming to baseball tryouts?" Marcus asked, slapping him on the back. "Coach needs pitchers."

"Yeah, totally," Leo lied, adjusting his hat. In reality, he'd been ditching practice to sneak into the community pool at dusk, teaching himself to swim because he'd somehow made it to sixteen without learning how. Which would've been fine, except that Maya — the girl he'd been lowkey crushing on since seventh grade — was the swim team captain.

The irony wasn't lost on him.

Friday night, Tyler's pool party. The stakes: Maya would be there. The problem: no way to hide in a swimsuit. Leo spent twenty minutes perfecting his hair, then threw on his snapback anyway. Because habits.

He's hovering near the snack table, dissociating, when it happens. He reaches for a spinach artichake dip, and Maya materializes beside him.

"Hey Leo!" She's smiling, and his brain short-circuits. "I didn't know you liked spinach dip."

"What? Yeah. Love it. Huge fan." He takes a massive bite, confidence levels soaring.

Then her expression shifts. Something flickers across her face — amusement? pity? She leans in. "You have a little..." She gestures at her own teeth.

Spinach. Of course. Because the universe had it out for him specifically.

He's scrambling for excuses when Tyler yells, "MARCO POLO!" and suddenly everyone's shouting. Leo freezes. Then Maya's hand is on his arm.

"Come swim with me."

"I... I'm not really..." But she's already pulling him toward the pool, and somewhere between the deck and the water, his snapback falls off. His messy hair springs free. She doesn't even notice.

They're treading water when she tells him she knows about his secret swimming practice. Tyler mentioned seeing him there.

"Why didn't you just say something?" she asks softly.

Leo shrugs, water dripping into his eyes. "Thought I had to be someone else."

Maya laughs, splashing him. "Baseroid, you've been hanging out in a pool alone for weeks. That's literally the opposite of cool, but also... kinda adorable?"

He thinks about his hat, still on the deck. About how for the first time in forever, he doesn't actually care that it's gone.

"Teach me the butterfly stroke?" he asks.

"Deal. But you gotta promise never to wear that hat in the pool again."

"You got it."

Maybe sixteen wasn't too late to learn something new. Maybe spinach incidents were actually just plot twists. And maybe the best versions of yourself didn't hide under hats at all.