The Summer I Finally Floated

The pool at the Ridgewood Club was basically a social minefield, and I was stepping right into it with my towel wrapped way too tight around my waist.

"Yo, Marcus! You coming or what?" Tyler yelled from the padel court. He'd already collected three new followers just by existing, meanwhile I was still trying to figure out if my phone was too old to bring out in public.

"Yeah, one sec," I called back, which was basically code for "I need five more minutes to overthink every decision I've ever made."

My sister Kayla had forced this orange tank top on me earlier, claiming it made my skin pop. Whatever that meant. Now it felt like a beacon shouting HERE IS SOMEONE WHO TRIED TOO HARD.

"You good?" This girl from my English class—what was her name, Chloe?—appeared beside me with the exact kind of effortless confidence I'd been faking since seventh grade.

"Just, you know, taking it in," I said smoothly. If you counted choking on your own spit as smooth.

She laughed, but not in a mean way. "The water's actually not terrible today. My dog Rex jumped in yesterday and didn't immediately try to escape, which is his highest endorsement."

I cracked a real smile. Rex was this chaotic golden retriever everyone loved because he had zero chill and somehow made everyone else feel less awkward by comparison.

"Your mom packed you vitamin water again, didn't she?" Chloe nodded toward my bag, where a very mom-looking bottle was peeking out like it was trying to hide.

"She's convinced I'm going to get scurvy at summer camp," I admitted. "Which isn't even how scurvy works, but try telling her that."

"Dude, my parents literally send me care packages with organic fruit snacks because apparently regular ones will 'stunt my growth.'" She rolled her eyes so hard I almost laughed.

That's when it hit me—everyone was faking it. Tyler with his perfect Instagram angles, Chloe pretending she didn't care what people thought, me trying to look like I belonged instead of just jumping in like Rex would.

"Wanna race to the deep end?" I asked, feeling suddenly lighter.

"You're going down, Marcus." She grinned. "I haven't lost a pool race since sixth grade."

"That was literally three years ago."

"A champion never forgets their victories."

I dropped my towel beside my bag and followed her toward the water, the orange tank top suddenly feeling less like a costume and more like, well, just a shirt. The pool wasn't so scary when you realized everyone was just trying to float their way through summer together.