The Pool Party Protocol

Marcus stared at the orange bottle on his kitchen counter. His mom's new obsession—those gross cherry **vitamin** gummies she swore would fix his 'gamer complexion.' Whatever that meant.

"You're going to Jessica's pool party, right?" she called from the living room, where she was dramatically unplugging the **cable** box because they were cutting the cord. 'Finally living in the future,' she'd announced, even though Marcus knew it was really about saving forty bucks a month.

"Yeah, yeah," Marcus muttered, pocketing the vitamins. Fine. If they helped him not look like a ghost in front of Jessica, he'd take the whole bottle.

The problem was: Marcus didn't do pools. Or parties. Or girls like Jessica, who somehow made a wet bikini look like a fashion statement instead of a vulnerability. His social battery was already at 3% just thinking about it.

When he arrived, half the sophomore class was already there. The **pool** water glittered like something out of a movie, and people were actually having fun—screaming, doing cannonballs, existing without apparent anxiety. Marcus stood by the snack table, clutching a bag of chips like it was a life preserver.

Then he saw Tyler—Jessica's ex—smirking at him from the diving board. Great.

"Hey, Vitamin Boy," Tyler called out. Everyone turned. "Your mom pack you a lunchbox too?"

Laughter rippled across the pool deck. Marcus felt his face burn. This was it. The moment that would live in infamy, the one he'd replay at 3 AM for the next six years.

But then something weird happened. Marcus reached into his pocket, pulled out the vitamin bottle, and tossed it to Tyler.

"Cherry flavor," he said, his voice steadier than he felt. "Figured you could use them. Your skin's looking a little stressed, man."

Silence. Then someone snorted. Then Jessica actually laughed.

Tyler's face turned the color of the gummies. "Whatever."

"No, seriously," Marcus continued, surprising himself. "My mom says they're great for stress. You seem... stressed about something."

More laughter this time—but with him, not at him. Jessica swam over to the edge, water dripping from her hair. "You're weird, Marcus."

"Weird good or weird bad?"

"Weird good." She smiled. "Wanna play chicken fight? Tyler needs a new opponent."

Marcus took off his shirt. The vitamin gummies stayed forgotten in his pocket, but for the first time, he didn't feel like he needed them.

His mom was right about one thing, anyway. Sunlight really was good for the complexion.