Surveillance Squad Goals

I crouched behind the neighbor's prize-winning azaleas, my phone clutched like a weapon. Technically, I wasn't a real spy—unless you counted my Instagram stakeout skills, which honestly deserved a government paycheck. But Jordan had *hired* me. Well, "hired" meaning promised me free Cheetos for a month if I could confirm whether her crush was swimming at Taylor's pool party today.

"Dude, you look like a zombie," my best friend Maya had said that morning. She wasn't wrong. Finals week had turned my brain into mush. My eyes had that permanently glazed expression, like I'd been binge-w Netflix for 72 hours straight instead of studying geometry formulas that I'd never use again in my entire life.

The party sounds drifted over the fence—laughter, splash music, the periodic shriek of someone getting pushed into the water. I adjusted my position, accidentally crushing three azalea petals. Oops. Mrs. Henderson was going to lose it tomorrow.

Then I saw him.

Caleb. Taylor's older brother. The one who'd graduated last year and now came back sometimes to hang out. He wasn't swimming. He was sitting on the pool deck alone, phone in one hand, staring at the water like it held the answers to the universe.

He looked tired. Not zombie tired—something deeper. The kind of exhausted that comes from real life, not just exams.

I watched him for ten minutes. That's when the *spy* mission fell apart. Instead of reporting back to Jordan, I found myself wondering what Caleb was thinking about, alone at a party surrounded by people.

Then he stood up, fully clothed, and stepped into the pool.

Just walked right in, shoes and all, until the water reached his waist. He stood there for a moment, then submerged completely.

I held my breath.

When he surfaced, he looked different. Like something had washed away.

My phone buzzed—Jordan wanting an update. I ignored it. Instead, I stood up, brushed azalea petals off my knees, and walked toward the gate.

Some things were worth more than free Cheetos.

Some things were worth finding out for yourself.