It was the day of the pool party. I didn’t see it as a celebration; it was more of a day where all of my friends were in one place, having fun. I half expected Amy Carena to bail and not come to my party at all, but to my surprise, I saw her walk through those gates with none other than Maison. They looked like they were having a casual conversation when Maison locked eyes with me across the pool area; they looked at me as if they knew something I didn’t. She seemed playful about it, but I wasn’t sure if that was just a trick of the light or if she was actually smirking at me.

“Hey, Moir!” Viveca Maison yelled from across the pool area, “Has the party started yet?”

“It has now that you two are here,” I replied with a slight chuckle as the two girls approached me and my friend group.

I’ve never noticed this before, but under the fluorescent lighting of our school, I always thought Amy Carena just had brown eyes. I can see now that when the sun hits her face just right, they reveal greens and yellows within her irises like the color of leaves when autumn is nearing. Amy Carena has hazel eyes, and they are beautiful. She is beautiful.

Amy Carena was the only one who was looking forward to getting in the water; everyone else was messing around outside of the water. Viveca only had their calves wet while they sat on the edge of the pool, near Amy Carena. I noticed this and decided to approach them.

“You two seem to be enjoying the water more than everyone else,” I claimed.

“Oh, Amy has been looking forward to this. We were planning on going to the beach, but her parents are strict.” Viveca replied.

Amy added on a blub with her mouth under the water, Viveca and me both stared at her for a split second before erupting in laughter.

After that, Viveca suggested we play the common pool party games like Marco Polo, sharks and minnows, and everything of the like. Towards the end of the night, my friend group noticed and decided to join in too. My friend group consists of three other people: Pure, Vicks, and Peter. They are my three closest friends, and I can see myself still hanging out with them in the future. At the end of the night they were the last to leave.

“So, since when did you learn how to talk to girls?” Vicks began.

“HUH!?” My cheeks grew red.

“I gotta admit, you grew some balls today,” Peter remarked.

“I agree, I thought the only girl you’d ever talk to was me.” Pure added. “They grow up so fast.”

“I am older than you,” I stated. “Plus, I only invited Allard. Maison was just her plus one.”

“Wait, so that was the Amy Carena Allard?” Vicks gasped.

I had completely forgotten about that one time I blabbed on about Amy Carena while I was at Vicks's house last week; he will never let me live it down now.

On the day I had asked Amy Carena to come to my party, I had gone over to Vicks’s house. I was just going to hang out with the guy like I usually do. We ate pizza and messed around, all the typical “boys will be boys” activities. After eating four slices of pizza, I sat in his gaming chair and, almost instinctively, began yammering about Amy Carena; the encounter with Maison at the store and her mentioning the fact that Amy Carena tends to talk about me, the picture they sent after, Amy Carena being more casual now, everything.

“Woah, dude.” Vicks began, “That’s a lot.”

“I don’t know what to do with myself.” I sobbed.

Vicks comforted me, and I left shortly after before the sun went down.

After my friends and I were done drying and making jokes among ourselves, we all went home. While they were being driven home, I only had to walk out the gate and walk back to my apartment building. As soon as I entered my room, I collapsed onto my bed while still in my damp swimwear. I gotta admit, you grew some balls today, I recall Peter’s remark. Thinking back on it made me realize how far I had come, from barely being able to talk to Amy Carena to inviting her to my pool party. A feeling grew in my chest that gave me all the hope I needed to assure my growing closeness with the girl I like.

I thought back to the pool party and all the memories before it, my hair still damp while I lay in bed. I thought about my best friend, Moir. A small smile quirked my lips as I remembered our inside jokes together.