Zombie Poolside

The chlorine hit my nose before I even saw the water. Another Saturday at the community pool, another shift of watching people live their best lives while I stood guard in my stupid red lifeguard tank like I was actually paying attention.

"Marcus! You good, bro?" Tyler yelled from the deep end, splashing water toward my chair.

"Yeah, just vibing," I lied, feeling like a total zombie. Junior year was eating me alive—AP classes, college applications starting to loom, and now this job that was supposed to be "fun" but was actually just socially anxious me standing above everyone while they had the time of their lives.

I caught sight of Lana across the pool, laughing with her friends, hair wet and perfect, and suddenly I was hyper-aware of everything. My posture. My hair. The fact that I was sitting alone in a tall chair like some kind of lonely King of the Pool.

The worst part? I'd literally been running from this moment since middle school. Running from real conversations. Running from anything that might expose how awkward I actually felt around pretty much everyone.

"Marcus!"

I snapped back to reality. Some kid was struggling near the diving board. I vaulted over the chair, whistle shrill, heart hammering. Reached the kid, pulled him up, he was coughing but fine. His mom was already there, thanking me, and suddenly everyone was looking at me.

Including Lana.

I climbed out of the pool, soaked and shaking but weirdly alive. Not a zombie anymore. Just me, Marcus, actually doing something instead of running from everything.

Lana walked over. "That was... actually really brave."

"Just doing my job," I said, but my voice didn't crack for once.

"No," she said, smiling like she actually saw me. "I mean, like... you just went for it. No hesitation."

And in that moment, dripping chlorinated water in front of everyone, I finally felt real. Not running anymore. Just standing there, perfectly imperfect, and somehow that was enough.

The zombie year was over. The real one had just begun.