Thunderpool

Marcus stood at the edge of Jen's backyard pool, clutching his phone like a lifeline. The cable guy was supposed to come between 12 and 4, and he'd bailed on watching his little sister to be here. At a pool party. Where he'd have to swim. In front of people.

"You coming in or what?" called Tyler, the loudest guy in their grade, doing a cannonball that displaced half the pool's water onto innocent bystanders.

"Yeah, just, uh, checking something," Marcus lied, knowing full well his texts were going unanswered. His sister was probably having a meltdown about missing her cartoon marathon.

He'd been crushing on Jen since seventh grade, which was exactly why this was a terrible idea. She was floating on an inflatable pizza slice with her friends, flawless in ways Marcus couldn't even begin to compete with. The social hierarchy of high school was clearer than this chlorinated water, and Marcus was definitely floating in the shallow end.

A crack of thunder shook the air. Everyone looked up.

"Storm's rolling in fast," said someone's mom from the patio chair.

The sky turned that weird greenish color that meant serious weather. Lightning forked across the clouds like nature's own light show—cool but also vaguely threatening.

Jen waved from her pizza slice. "Last one in is a rotten egg!"

Marcus didn't think. He just jumped.

The water was colder than expected, shocking him into full awareness. He surfaced spluttering while Tyler and his crew laughed, but Jen was grinning at him. Actually grinning.

"There he is!" she called. "Took you long enough."

Another lightning strike, closer this time. Everyone scrambled out as proper rain started coming down, turning the whole scene into something chaotic and wonderful. Marcus grabbed his towel, heart racing from more than just the storm.

"Hey," Jen said, squeezing the water from her hair. "You should come over tomorrow. We're having a Lord of the Rings marathon. My parents finally upgraded our cable package to all the good channels."

Marcus could barely process it. "The extended editions?"

"Obviously." She smirked. "You, me, Tyler, everyone. Bring snacks if you want."

As the group huddled under the patio roof, waiting for rides, Marcus found himself next to her, shoulder to shoulder. The storm passed quickly, leaving that clean-after-rain smell in the air. His phone buzzed with texts from his sister—cable guy had come and gone.

But for the first time, Marcus didn't care about the timing or the awkwardness or the social calculus that usually ruled his life. Sometimes you just had to jump in. Lightning strikes didn't happen twice, but some moments sparked just as bright.