The Art of Not Drowning

Marcus stood at the edge of the pool, toes curled over the concrete, heart doing that nervous flutter thing it always did when Riley posted about pool parties on Instagram. He'd managed to avoid swimming all summer—fake allergies, forgotten trunks, sudden stomach bugs—but today? Today was different.

"You coming in or what?" Riley called from the water, splashing water toward him. Her friends laughed. That collective giggle that could destroy a person's social existence before lunch.

Marcus's older brother, that giant **bull** of a human being who'd graduated three years ago and still acted like he owned the place, pushed past him and cannonballed into the deep end. Water everywhere. More laughter.

"You good, man?" Tyler asked, floating nearby. Tyler, who Marcus had known since kindergarten and who somehow didn't realize Marcus had never properly learned to swim. Just doggy-paddled. Flailed. Survived.

"Yeah," Marcus lied. "Just warming up."

He lowered himself into the shallow end, and it was fine. He could do this. Just put his face in the water and—panic. Pure, unfiltered panic. He shot up, gasping, clutching his chest like he'd just witnessed his own death.

Riley drifted closer. "You okay?"

"Fine," Marcus said, but his voice cracked.

She didn't mock him. Didn't giggle. She just reached out and touched his **palm** with hers, underwater. "First time at a party like this?"

Marcus nodded, embarrassed.

"Me too," she said. "Last year I sat in the corner the whole time. Too scared to get in."

"You?"

"I know, right? Nobody talks about the weird stuff. Everyone just pretends."

His brother surfaced nearby, shook water from his hair like a massive wet dog. "Yo, Marcus, having fun yet or still overthinking everything?"

"Shut up, Jeremy."

"I'm just messing. But seriously, kid, you gotta **bear** in mind that nobody's watching as close as you think they are. We're all just trying to look cool while internally screaming."

Marcus looked around. Really looked. Tyler was doing that weird dance thing to cover up being awkward. Riley was still holding his hand underwater. Jeremy was pretending to be confident but kept adjusting his trunks like he was self-conscious too.

Nobody was actually cool. Everybody was just pretending.

Marcus Riley's hand, took a deep breath, and actually tried swimming for the first time without panicking. He didn't drown. He didn't even look stupid.

Well, maybe a little stupid. But Riley was still smiling at him, so whatever.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yeah," Marcus said. "Actually, yeah."

Sometimes the scariest things weren't the things you couldn't do. They were the things you thought you had to do alone.