That One Friday in Orange

The orange crush can sat on the edge of the pool table, sweating beads of condensation like I was sweating the entire situation. Jackson's house. Friday night. The kind of party that existed mostly on Instagram stories afterward.

My dog, Buster, was supposed to be at home. Instead, he'd bolted out the car door when my mom dropped me off, and now he was currently touring Jackson's backyard like he owned the place. Great. Just what my social life needed – a four-legged witness to my humiliation.

"Your dog just jumped in the pool," Maya said from beside me, nudging my arm. She was the only person I actually felt cool around, mostly because she was equally awkward about everything.

Buster was paddling around in the water like he'd discovered his life's true purpose. People were laughing, but surprisingly, not in a mean way.

"At least someone's having fun," I muttered.

Then Jackson appeared, dripping wet from fishing my dog out of the pool. His hair was plastered to his forehead and he was laughing, and I felt that weird flutter in my chest that made me mad at myself for caring what some boy thought.

"Your dog's a legend," Jackson said, toweling off. "Seriously."

Buster shook himself off, spraying water everywhere. Jackson's cat, who'd been watching from the safety of the patio furniture, let out this offended meow like she was personally offended by the whole situation.

"Sorry about Buster," I said. "And your cat."

"Don't worry about it." Jackson's eyes actually met mine for like, three whole seconds. "Hey, you want to hang out by the water? It's actually pretty chill out here."

I could feel Maya vibrating with excitement beside me.

"Sure," I said, trying to sound casual and probably failing. But Jackson just smiled, and Buster started chasing the cat around the patio chairs, and suddenly the orange soda I'd been clutching didn't feel so heavy anymore.

Sometimes the worst moments turned into the ones you couldn't stop thinking about later. Not because they were perfect, but because they were actually, surprisingly, real.