The Summer Everything Changed

The vitamin gummies were supposed to help me focus, but honestly, they just tasted like artificial strawberry and regret.

"You coming?" Chloe called from her driveway, already dressed in her padel outfit—skirt that barely qualified as clothing, designer sweatband, and an energy I couldn't decide was inspiring or exhausting.

"Yeah," I yelled back, grabbing my racquet. "Let me just grab a water bottle."

This was the summer before junior year, and I'd somehow agreed to join the elite padel clinic with the popular crowd. Padel was like tennis meets squash, and I was about as coordinated as a drunk flamingo.

When I arrived at the courts, the summer sky was painting everything in shades of burnt orange. Marcus was already there, his arms all tan and muscled from working construction all summer. He waved, and I felt that familiar flutter in my chest that had nothing to do with exercise.

"Hey, Sash," he said. "Ready to get destroyed?"

"In your dreams," I shot back, though we both knew he'd probably crush me.

We played for hours. I missed balls, tripped over my own feet, and served directly into the net twice. But Marcus kept laughing and helping me up, and Chloe kept giving me these looks I couldn't quite read.

Afterward, we sat on the curb outside the convenience store, sharing a bag of orange chips and watching the sun dip lower.

"My goldfish died this morning," Marcus said suddenly.

I laughed. "What?"

"Mr. Glubbers," he said, completely serious. "Had him since third grade. Found him floating this morning." He looked at me with those eyes that made my stomach do weird things. "Wanna come over for a funeral?"

And that's how I ended up in Marcus's backyard at sunset, watching him give a surprisingly heartfelt eulogy for a goldfish while wearing his padel clothes. Chloe was there too, filming it for Instagram, but she caught my eye and smiled this tiny, genuine smile that said we were both thinking the same thing: this boy was ridiculous, and we were both falling for him.

"Rest in peace, little dude," Marcus said, dumping the fish into a hole he'd dug under his mom's prized hydrangeas.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a vitamin gummy. "Want one? For, like, strength or something?"

Marcus took it, his fingers brushing against mine. And as the last light painted the sky in brilliant orange, I realized this summer wasn't turning out how I'd planned at all.

And maybe that was exactly the point.