The Cable Guy's Summer

Jayden's hookup with the neighborhood cable guy wasn't illegal, exactly. Just a mutual understanding—Mr. Henderson next door got premium channels, Jayden got the signal split off his line. For a kid whose family couldn't afford more than basic internet, this arrangement was basically gold.

Until his mom found out.

"You're WHAT?" Mia practically choked on her bubble tea when Jayden told her. They were sitting by the community pool, legs dangling in the water while she filmed herself for TikTok. "That's literally cable theft, Jayden. You're gonna end up in juvie."

"It's not theft if the neighbor knows," Jayden argued, though he felt sketchy admitting it out loud. Especially to Mia, who was currently wearing a swimsuit that cost more than his entire wardrobe.

Mia had been Jayden's friend since kindergarten, back when friendship was about sharing crayons and not about whose family could afford a house with a pool. Things felt different now. She was all about vibes and aesthetics and being the main character. Jayden was just... background noise.

"Speaking of background," Mia said, flipping her phone camera toward him. "You should come to Jordan's party tonight. Swimming, music, actual human interaction. It'll be good for you."

Jayden's stomach did that thing it did when he thought about parties. The not-fun kind of flips. "I don't even have a suit."

"So wear shorts. God, you're hopeless." She sighed dramatically. "I'll pick you up at eight. Be ready or I'm literally dying of secondhand embarrassment for you."

That night, standing in Jordan's massive backyard, Jayden felt like he was swimming through air instead of water. Everyone seemed to know each other already, speaking in references and inside jokes he'd missed because he'd been too busy watching cable through a fuzzy illegal connection.

Then he saw the cable box in the corner of the patio, hooked up to an outdoor TV. Someone had knocked the connection loose, and the screen was just static.

Without thinking, Jayden walked over and fixed it. The TV flickered to life—some music video everyone at school had been talking about.

"Yo, who fixed the TV?" Jordan called out. "That was literally broken for weeks."

"I do some stuff with cable," Jayden said, and suddenly everyone was looking at him. Not through him, but AT him.

Mia appeared beside him, grinning. "See? I told you he was lowkey useful."

For the first time all night, Jayden didn't feel like he was underwater. He just felt like a guy who knew how to fix a cable box, which turned out to be exactly what he needed to be.