Fish Eye Filter

Maya's hair wouldn't cooperate. Not today, not when Jaden might actually notice her existence. She'd spent forty minutes trying to tame the frizz, but her reflection still showed someone who looked like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket.

"Just take your vitamin and go," her mom called from the kitchen, already running late for work. Maya swallowed the orange pill without thinking—her mom insisted they'd help her skin, her mood, her everything. Nothing changed, obviously.

Her iPhone buzzed. Group chat blowing up about Alex's party tonight. Everyone was going. Everyone except maybe her, if she couldn't get her hair under control.

She flopped onto her bed, staring at Goldie's bowl on her nightstand. Her carnival prize from last summer, the one thing she'd managed to keep alive. Goldie floated near the plastic castle, doing that weird thing where she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. Maya had read somewhere that goldfish only have a three-second memory, which meant Goldie lived in an endless loop of surprise and rediscovery.

Must be nice, she thought. To not remember the awkward moments. The times you said something weird in class. The times you caught your crush looking away because they'd been staring at your hair—or not staring, which was worse.

Her iPhone lit up with a new post from Skylar. Perfect hair, perfect filter, perfect life. Maya felt that familiar twist in her stomach, that FOMO that made her feel like everyone else was living while she was just watching.

Goldie did a little flip, scattering colored gravel.

Maya sat up. What was she doing? She was sixteen years old, stressing over hair and维生素s and someone else's party, while her goldfish was living her best life with a three-second memory and a plastic castle.

She grabbed her phone, snapped a picture of Goldie—no filter, no careful angle. Just a fish being a fish. Posted it with the caption: "POV: you're a king and your castle has neon gravel."

The phone buzzed almost immediately. Jaden had commented. "Goldie has more rizz than most people at school lol"

Maya stared at it, then laughed. Not a perfect laugh. Her hair was still messy. Her vitamin hadn't magically fixed anything. But somehow, that was okay.

She grabbed her backpack. Tonight she'd go to Alex's party. Hair wild, no filter. If Goldie could be iconic with a three-second memory, Maya could handle being seen as herself.

Besides, she had better rizz than most people. According to Jaden, anyway.