The Pool Party Incident

Marcus was the varsity baseball team's secret weapon—not because he could crush a fastball into the next zip code, but because nobody knew he couldn't swim to save his life.

"Pool party at my place Saturday," Tyler announced after practice, chest puffed out like he'd just invented the concept of weekend social gatherings. "Everyone's gonna be there."

The team nodded collectively, already planning their fits. Marcus forced a grin, his stomach doing that thing it did whenever he saw open water—which was never, because he actively avoided it.

His freshman sister Maya rolled her eyes when he told her later. "Just say you don't swim, Marcus. It's not that deep."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the starting third baseman. Can't look weak in front of the squad."

That Thursday, Marcus arrived early to batting practice and found the feral cat that lived near the dugout sitting in a puddle from the sprinklers, actually swimming in like two inches of water like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You're kidding, right?" Marcus stared at the cat. "Even you can do it?"

The cat licked its paw with supreme indifference.

Saturday arrived with the kind of sunshine that made everything feel possible and terrible at the same time. Marcus showed up wearing his Supreme shirt and anxiety levels that were frankly impressive.

Tyler's backyard looked like a TikTok trap. Above-ground pool, string lights, Bluetooth speakers blasting something that sounded like every other song. The whole team was already in the water, splashing like they were twelve again.

"Yo Marcus, get in here!" someone yelled.

He froze. This was it. The moment his social life died.

Then Maya pushed him from behind.

Marcus hit the water going full panic mode, flailing like he'd never seen a pool before (he hadn't). But instead of drowning like his brain was convinced would happen, he bobbed up, sputtering, while everyone laughed.

"Bro, you good?" Tyler asked, grinning.

Marcus stood up. The water came to his chest. "I don't know how to swim, okay?"

The laughter stopped. Then Tyler shrugged. "Neither does half the team. We're just chilling."

"Wait, seriously?"

"We're in four feet of water, Marcus. Nobody's swimming laps."

Marcus looked around. Everyone was just standing there, messing with their phones, occasionally dunking each other. No actual swimming required.

"Oh."

"Also," Maya called from the side, where she'd recorded the whole thing, "that cat from the field has kittens in the equipment shed. I saw them yesterday."

"We're keeping them," Tyler decided immediately.

And that's how Marcus learned that sometimes the scariest moments aren't actually that deep, and how the baseball team accidentally adopted five cats who had zero interest in sports but absolutely loved watching them fail at simple things like throwing without falling into the grass.

Life was weird like that.