SyllabusRose
A coming-of-age enemies-to-lovers romance set beneath the surface of privilege, pressure, and the raw pursuit of acceptance.
Noah Hayes is used to going unnoticed. A quiet boy from the wrong side of Willowbrook, he spends his days cleaning pools for the town's elite and trying to survive his final year at Crestwood Academy, a school that has never been kind to boys like him.
Especially not boys like Ethan Bennett, swim team captain, golden boy, and son of the town's mayor. Ethan has made Noah's life hell for years, flanked by his loyal crew of bullies. But when an unexpected shift throws Noah into the spotlight, and onto the swim team, their dynamic begins to crack.
Forced into close proximity, the boy Ethan once saw as beneath him begins to challenge everything he thought he knew, about Noah, about himself, and about what it means to truly be seen.
As secrets surface and tensions boil over, the line between hatred and something far more dangerous begins to blur.
Set against the shimmering blue of competition and cruelty, The Pool Boy is a story of resilience, reckoning, and the transformative power of love, even in the unlikeliest places.