The Chlorine Conspiracy

I'd been choking down these horse-pill vitamin C supplements for weeks because Tyler's friend group casually mentioned how clear skin was totally a glow-up thing. So here I was, standing at the edge of Maya's pool party, desperately not wanting to be seen in a swimsuit while also wanting to be seen.

"Yo, you coming in or what?" Tyler yelled from the deep end, splashing water everywhere like an overexcited golden retriever.

I hesitated. My phone buzzed — my group chat was losing it over some drama I wasn't even part of. Classic.

Then I heard it — the most unholy screeching from the roof above the pool house. Everyone froze. A cat — this ancient, grumpy-looking orange tabby that lived two streets over — was clinging to the gutter like its life depended on it. Which it definitely did.

"That's Mr. Whiskers!" Maya shouted. "He's been missing for days!"

Before I could even process that I was about to do something极其 uncool, I was scrambling up the ladder to the roof. My heart hammered. The cat glared at me with pure judgment, like *this is embarrassing for both of us*.

"Hey buddy," I whispered, inching closer. "I promise I'm not gonna meme this up."

The cat hissed. I hissed back. We understood each other.

I managed to scoop him up, clutching this angry, purring monster to my chest as I climbed back down. Everyone was watching. Tyler looked legitimately impressed. Maya was literally crying with happiness.

"Dude," Tyler said, once I was back on solid ground. "That was legendary."

Mr. Whiskers head-butted my chin like, *yeah, whatever*.

"Also," Maya added, "I was gonna say — you don't need those vitamins. You're literally fine."

I stood there, holding a cat that smelled like roof tar and victory, while my crush nodded in agreement and nobody mentioned my slightly-too-small swim trunks. Sometimes the glow-up isn't a supplement. Sometimes it's just making a complete fool of yourself in front of everyone and realizing nobody actually cares.

The cat jumped down and immediately started grooming itself like nothing happened. Mood.