The Summer We Almost Made It Big

The humidity hit me like a wall when I stepped outside, phone clutched in my sweating hand. The text from Jordan lit up my screen: 'Pool party at Crystal's. Everyone's gonna be there. Bring $50 for the investment meeting.'

I didn't have fifty bucks. I didn't even have five after Mom cut off my allowance for 'that incident with the fire extinguisher.' But I had to be there. This was my shot to finally stop being invisible, to climb from the bottom of the social pyramid where all the theater kids and band geeks lived.

'You're not actually considering this, are you?'

I looked down at Barnaby, my cat, who was sprawled across the porch railing like he owned the place. His yellow eyes bored into mine with judgment. Even the cat knew this was a terrible idea.

'Shut up, Barnaby,' I muttered, stepping over him. 'You don't understand what it's like out there.'

Crystal's house was massive—three stories, a driveway that could fit eight cars, and an inground pool that sparkled like something from a movie. Jordan and Crystal were already there, along with like, half the junior class. They all looked so confident, so effortless in their cutoffs and bikini tops, holding cans of LaCroix like they were at a photoshoot.

'Taylor!' Crystal waved me over, her smile bright as a commercial. 'So glad you made it. We were just about to explain how the system works.'

She pulled out a whiteboard and started drawing circles inside circles. 'It's not a pyramid scheme,' she said, drawing arrows between the circles. 'It's a multi-level marketing opportunity. You invest fifty dollars, you get the product package, then you sign up five people under you, and they sign up five people...'

The math didn't work. I knew it didn't work. But everyone was nodding, even Jordan, and I wanted so badly to be part of this energy, this momentum. I wanted to be on the inside of the joke for once, not the punchline.

'I'm in,' I heard myself say.

Crystal beamed. 'That's the spirit! Who's got fifty for Taylor?'

Silence. The kind of silence that makes you wish you could dissolve into the concrete.

Then, from the bushes, Barnaby burst through, chased by Crystal's poodle. Both animals went airborne, straight into the pristine pool. Chaos erupted—screaming, splashing, Crystal's perfect whiteboard falling into the water.

'Oh my GOD, my POOL!' Crystal shrieked.

I scrambled to fish Barnaby out, soaking wet, holding a thrashing, furious cat while Crystal's poodle paddled triumphantly around them. Everyone was staring at me. I'd ruined everything. Again.

But then Jordan started laughing. Not mean laughing—real laughing, doubled over, clutching their stomach. One by one, people joined in until even Crystal was cracking a smile, despite herself.

'Your cat just committed corporate sabotage,' Jordan said between laughs, handing me a towel. 'That's literally the most badass thing I've ever seen.'

I looked at Barnaby, who was now perched on a lawn chair, licking his paw like he'd planned the whole thing. 'Yeah,' I said, finally exhaling. 'I guess he did.'

Later, when the pyramid scheme conversation had evaporated and we were all just hanging out by the pool, eating pizza and making fun of Crystal's whiteboard presentation, Jordan sat beside me.

'For what it's worth,' they said, 'I'm glad you didn't have fifty bucks.'

'Me too,' I said, watching Barnaby stalk a moth near the pool lights. 'Me too.'

Sometimes the universe has your back. Sometimes it sends a cat.