The Bull at the Bottom of the Pool

Leo's chest tightened as he stepped onto Miranda's patio. The pool glowed with underwater blue lights, and somewhere, a speaker bumped low-fi hip hop. He'd been crushing on Miranda since seventh period English, and now here he was at her legendary start-of-summer party, wearing his old swim trunks because his mom had "forgotten" to buy new ones.

"Leo!" Miranda waved from the pool's edge, water dripping from her hair. "You made it. Tyler said you were bailing."

Tyler—Miranda's ex with the perfect jawline and the varsity jacket he wore like it was his own skin—floated on a neon inflatable nearby. "I may have heard he was stressing about baseball tryouts."

Leo's face heated up. "Monday's the big day. Varsity or bust, right?"

"No bull?" Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Because I heard you've been striking out at practice."

A couple of kids nearby snickered. Leo opened his mouth to deny it, but then someone screamed.

"OH MY GOD THERE'S A BULL IN THE POOL!"

Everyone froze. Then, chaos. Kids scrambled out of the water, drinks tipped over, someone's phone shattered on the concrete. Leo stood his ground, peering into the glowing blue depths. Nothing but the pool drain and a pair of lost goggles.

"I don't see anything," he said.

"It's there!" Tyler insisted, now safely on dry land. "Huge horns. Totally saw it."

"Dude, there is no bull," Leo said, louder than he intended. "That's straight-up bs and you know it."

The backyard went silent. Miranda's friends exchanged looks. Leo's stomach dropped. He'd just called out the most popular guy in the grade at his own party. So much for making a move on Miranda.

Then Miranda started laughing. Not mean laughter—the real kind, head back, shoulders shaking.

"Thank you," she said, stepping toward him. "Tyler's been pulling that 'bull in the pool' prank since freshman year. You're literally the first person who's ever called him on it."

Tyler grinned. "Okay, you got me. Kid's got guts."

Miranda's eyes met Leo's. "Hey, about baseball—my brother's the varsity captain. He could help you with your swing if you want."

Leo's chest loosened. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

Later, as he cannonballed into the bull-free water, he realized: sometimes the bravest thing wasn't swinging for the fences. It was calling out the bullshit and jumping in anyway.