Thunderpool Mission

The orange cat blinked at me from the windowsill like he knew exactly what I was about to do. Probably did. Barnaby's seen me sneak out enough times.

"You're not gonna tell, right?" I whispered, shoving my phone into my pocket. He yawned, completely unimpressed.

Outside, the air felt thick and electric. Summer storm coming. Perfect cover for Operation Neighborhood Pool, because what kind of idiot goes swimming at midnight in a lightning storm? This idiot, apparently. But Maya's Instagram story had shown her and the varsity crowd hanging out at the Hendersons' pool (fake rich people, somehow had an actual pool), and I'd been obsessing over it for three days.

I moved like a spy through the side yards, staying in shadows, ducking under windows. Heart pounding like I was breaking into Fort Knox instead of just hopping a fence. Mr. Henderson's porch light flickered on, and I froze behind their massive oak tree, holding my breath.

A crack of thunder shook the ground. Lightning flashed across the sky, turning everything this weird purple-white for a second.

Now or never.

I scrambled over the fence and landed in their backyard—and stopped dead.

Someone was already in the pool.

A figure swimming laps, slicing through the water with these smooth, perfect strokes. Then they popped up at the edge, dripping wet, and it was Maya. Not with the varsity crowd. Just her.

She saw me and froze. I froze. We were both just standing there like total idiots in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"I," she started, then laughed. "I come here to think. It's peaceful when no one's watching."

"Same," I said, even though I'd never been here before in my life.

She waved me over. "Wanna join? Lightning's still miles away."

So I did. We sat on the pool edge, feet in the water, watching the storm roll in, talking about everything and nothing. The orange cat from my windowsill (or one exactly like him) strolled through the open gate, sat down, and started grooming himself like he'd orchestrated the whole thing.

Maybe he had.

The storm never even hit. But something definitely changed.