Glass Bowl Surveillance

I felt like a goldfish most of the time—swimming in circles, trapped behind glass, watching everyone else live actual lives while I just existed.

That was before the spying incident.

Okay, "incident" makes it sound dramatic. It was just Instagram stalking, which every teenager does, but somehow I took it to a weird extreme.

Maya Chen moved here three weeks ago and immediately became everyone's obsession. She was different—wore vintage jackets, quoted philosophy in AP English, carried around this sketchbook she never let anyone see. I'd been lowkey spying on her socials for days, trying to figure her out. Her posts were aesthetic in that effortless way I could never pull off—sunsets through classroom windows, hands holding coffee, cryptic song lyrics.

Then came the papaya incident.

I was working at my mom's grocery store (most uncool job ever, but at least I got free snacks) when Maya came in. She looked nervous, kept glancing around like she was on a secret mission. I watched her—okay, spied on her—while pretending to stock shelves. She headed straight for the exotic fruit section and picked up a papaya like it was contraband.

Who buys papayas in small-town Ohio? Nobody. That's who.

She caught me staring.

"What?" I said, way too defensively.

Maya held up the papaya. "My goldfish loves them."

"Your... what?"

"My goldfish. His name's Aristotle. He's very sophisticated." She cracked this tiny smile and I realized I'd been totally wrong about her. She wasn't some mysterious cool girl. She was just weird.

"Fish don't eat fruit,"

"Aristotle does. He's special." She paused. "You're the girl who's always watching me, aren't you?"

I died inside. "I—"

"It's fine. I'm new here. I get it." She shifted her weight. "Wanna come see Aristotle? He's actually pretty cool. No cap."

And that's how I ended up in Maya's room on a Tuesday afternoon, watching a goldfish named Aristotle eat papaya cubes while she explained her theory about how fish have secret emotional lives.

I stopped spying after that. Turns out real connection beats Instagram stalking every time.

Also? Aristotle is definitely a vibe.