The Party Fox

Marcus stood against the wall, nursing his flat Coke like it was the most interesting thing in the world. First real party. First time seeing everyone from school outside their natural habitats. And he was absolutely lowkey freaking out.

He'd been spying on Chloe from across the cafeteria since October, watching her laugh with her friends, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when she was nervous. Now she was five feet away, wearing a cropped top and actually smiling at him.

"You look like you're plotting something," she said.

Marcus's brain short-circuited. "Just... taking it all in."

"Smooth." She grinned, and his chest did this stupid flippy thing. "I'm Chloe, by the way."

"Marcus."

"Like the fox," someone yelled from behind them. A guy in a basketball jersey — Tyler, the one who'd been spreading all that bull about Marcus cheating on the math final last month. "Sly as a fox, right?"

Chloe rolled her eyes so hard it looked painful. "Ignore Tyler. He's still bitter he got a C-."

Marcus felt his face heating up. The rumor had been straight-up bull — he'd studied for three weeks, while Tyler spent his time spamming Chloe's DMs and getting curved on the daily.

"Whatever," Marcus managed. "I bear no grudges."

Chloe burst out laughing. "Did you just pun?"

Maybe. Probably. His brain was malfunctioning and he was pretty sure he'd just used "bear" in a sentence that made zero sense, but she was laughing. Not at him, with him.

"You're weird," she said, moving closer. "I like it."

Tyler started muttering something else, but Chloe turned her back on him completely, focusing on Marcus like he was the only person worth talking to. For the first time all night, he didn't feel like the awkward kid spying from the sidelines. He felt like someone worth noticing.

"So, Marcus," she said, tapping his cup with hers. "Tell me everything."

And just like that, the fox found his voice.