The Water Between Us

The invitation slid into my palm like a secret note—Marcus's Saturday pool party. The Marcus. The one whose laugh made my stomach do backflips and whose smile lit up the cafeteria like nobody's business. My hands were already sweating just thinking about it.

"You going?" asked Keisha, spinning her phone on the lunch table.

"Probably," I said, trying to sound casual. "Why not?"

Inside, I was freaking out. This wasn't just any party. This was THE party. The one that determined your social standing for the rest of sophomore year. I spent three days picking out my swimsuit, practicing my cool-girl poses in the mirror, and mentally preparing myself for the social battlefield.

Saturday arrived with the kind of humidity that makes everything feel sticky. I walked into Marcus's backyard and immediately spotted the problem—a massive in-ground pool shimmering like an oasis in the July heat. The water was this perfect, inviting blue, and it was already filled with people who looked like they belonged in a music video.

I grabbed a paper plate and loaded it with spinach artichake dip, my nervous stomach demanding something to chew on. That's when I saw HIM.

Marcus was sitting by the goldfish pond on the patio, dangling his feet in the water and watching the orange fish dart between lily pads. He looked—get this—bored. Like this legendary party was actually kind of lame.

"Hey," I said, my voice coming out weirdly high-pitched. "Nice fish."

He looked up, and his eyes locked onto mine. "Yeah. My mom's obsessed with them. She thinks they bring good luck."

"Do they?"

Marcus laughed, and it was even better up close. "Not really. I got a C on my chem test yesterday."

We sat there for twenty minutes, watching the goldfish and talking about everything from Mr. Harrison's terrible jokes to our shared obsession with this indie band nobody else knew about. My palms stopped sweating. The spinach dip forgotten on my plate, I forgot to worry about being cool.

"Want to get in the pool?" Marcus asked suddenly. "Everyone else is inside playing Mario Kart."

"I didn't bring a towel," I admitted.

"We can share mine," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The water was perfect—cool enough to be refreshing, warm enough that we stayed in forever. We floated on our backs, staring up at the first stars appearing through the haze, and Marcus told me he'd been hoping I'd come. ME. The girl who spent half her life feeling invisible.

"You have some dip on your chin," he said, grinning.

I wiped it away, spinach and all, and didn't even care. Some things are worth embarrassing yourself for.