The Night We Called Bull

The humidity clung to us like second skin as Mia and I sat poolside, legs dangling in the water that smelled faintly of chlorine and summer nights. She was my best friend, the person who knew my crush on Tyler before I even admitted it to myself.

"So," Tyler said, sliding onto the lounge chair beside me, all gangly limbs and nervous energy. "I heard you're going to transfer schools next year."

I froze. "Who told you that?"

"Everyone knows," he said, and I caught the slight tremor in his voice.

"Bull," I said softly, then louder: "That's bull, Tyler. I'm not going anywhere."

Mia kicked water at me, grinning. "She's staying. We've been planning our junior year since seventh grade."

But Tyler's face had already closed off, like a door softly clicking shut. Later, I saw him running toward the street, leaving wet footprints on the concrete, and I realized someone had fed him lies on purpose—probably Jessica, who'd made it clear she wanted Tyler to herself.

I followed him, barefoot and breathless, catching up just as he reached the streetlamp's amber glow.

"You're really staying?" he asked, and something in his voice made my chest tight.

"I'm really staying," I said. "Unless someone makes me an offer I can't refuse."

He laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound I'd heard all summer. "Good. Because I was working up to ask you to homecoming, and that would've been super awkward if you moved."

I didn't know whether to scream or pass out. Instead, I said, "Bet."

Behind us, the pool lights flickered on, turning the water into something magical and impossible. Jessica's lie had backfired completely—sometimes the universe works like that, taking something meant to hurt you and turning it into exactly what you needed.