Sweaty Palms and Cannonballs

The heat wave had turned everything into a sauna, including my nervous system. I stood at the edge of the Hendersons' pool, clutching my towel like it was a lifeline, while everyone else acted like swimming in their underwear was the most natural thing in the world. Typical freshman energy.

Marcus lobbed a deflated **baseball** across the water, hitting Tyler square in the back. "You're out, bro!"

"That's not even how the game works!" Tyler yelled back, surfacing spluttering.

I checked my phone. No escape. Mom had dropped me off with a cheerful "Have fun, honey!" and drove away in her minivan of betrayal.

My **palm**s were so sweaty I could barely grip my phone. This is it, I thought. This is where my social life goes to die.

Then I saw her. Chloe. The Chloe. The one who sat behind me in English and whose laugh sounded like wind chimes. She was perched on the diving board, legs dangling, watching everything with those intense eyes that made my stomach do gymnastics.

"Hey, you gonna stand there all day or what?" A voice beside me made me jump.

It was Chloe's little sister, Maya, who I'd somehow failed to notice. She had a way of appearing out of nowhere, like a **cat** that materialized when you opened a tuna can.

"I'm... thinking about it," I managed.

"You've been thinking for twenty minutes," she said. "Even their **dog** jumped in five minutes ago."

Sure enough, a golden retriever was paddling around like it owned the place, living its best life while I stood there overthinking everything.

"You know what Chloe likes?" Maya continued, oblivious to my internal screaming. "Guys who aren't afraid to look stupid."

The cannonball that followed was not graceful. It was not cool. It was spectacularly uncool, water going everywhere, me emerging gasping while everyone stared.

But then Chloe laughed. Not mean laughing—real laughing, head thrown back, hair wet and perfect.

"Finally!" she called. "Took you long enough!"

And just like that, I wasn't the awkward freshman anymore. I was the guy who did the most epic cannonball of the party. Sometimes you just have to jump.