Electric Fish and the Living Dead

Maya's phone buzzed for the third time in five minutes. Another group chat blowing up without her. Typical Friday night, she was stuck at home watching her little brother's science fair project bubble ominously on the kitchen counter.

"It's called a 'goldfish memory experiment,'" Leo explained, gesturing at the fishbowl containing one remarkably bored-looking goldfish named Captain Fin. "I'm testing if fish really have a three-second memory. Spoiler: they don't. He just pretends to ignore me."

Maya snorted. "Relatable. I do that to Mom all the time."

Outside, **lightning** flashed across the sky, followed by thunder that rattled the windows. Perfect storm for a perfect night of doing absolutely nothing while everyone else was at Tyler's party. The FOMO was real, even if Maya refused to admit it.

"You should go," Leo said, reading her mind. "Everyone's gonna be there."

"And do what? Stand in the corner like a **zombie** while people play beer pong with Mountain Dew? Hard pass." Maya flopped onto the couch. "Besides, someone has to make sure Captain Fin doesn't stage a prison break."

Her phone lit up again. This time, a DM from Jordan—the cute junior from her art class. 'Hey! Heard you're not coming. That's actually chill. These parties can be so overwhelming lol. Wanna FaceTime instead?'

Maya stared at the screen, her heart doing this weird flutter thing. Jordan thought she was interesting enough to Facechat? While missing the party?

"Maya?" Leo waved a hand in front of her face. "You there?"

She blinked. "What? Oh. Yeah. Just... processing."

Another **lightning** strike illuminated the room, and in that moment, Maya realized something: maybe the people who mattered didn't care about being seen at the party. Maybe they cared about actual connections. And maybe Jordan got that.

"Leo," she said slowly, "how would you feel about me Facailing someone while supervising your goldfish experiment?"

He shrugged. "Captain Fin won't mind. He's used to being an audience."

Sometimes the best moments aren't the ones you plan. They're the ones that find you when you stop trying so hard to be everywhere else.