Goldfish and Lightning

Marcus adjusted his beat-up **hat** for the millionth time, the brim fraying at the edges just like his confidence. The hallway stretched ahead like a gauntlet, and somewhere in that sea of students was Jordan—aka "The **Bull**," though Jordan would never know Marcus whispered that nickname to his pet **goldfish** every night.

"You got this, Bubbles," Marcus muttered under his breath, channeling the fish's indifferent energy. Bubbles didn't care about social hierarchies or the fact that Marcus had somehow agreed to present their science project today.

The cafeteria smelled like something died in the vegetable steamer. Marcus's mom had packed him a "healthy lunch" which was code for "why does my kid look like he's preparing for a food challenge." He'd spent twenty minutes picking **spinach** out of his teeth earlier, only to realize later there was probably still some there, making him look like he'd been eating a small forest.

**Lightning** cracked through the skylight—actual, dramatic thunderstorm weather that matched perfectly with the chaos in his stomach. This was it. The presentation. The moment Jordan would definitely roast him.

Marcus found himself at Jordan's table, somehow. Jordan stared at him.

"Your hat's on backwards," Jordan said.

Marcus froze. "What?"

"Your hat. It's backwards." Jordan leaned forward, almost... smiling? "Also, you have spinach in your teeth."

The entire table went silent. Marcus's face burned so hot he could probably power the school's heating system.

"Thanks," Marcus managed, heading to the bathroom.

But then Jordan's voice followed him. "Hey. Good luck with the presentation. Your goldfish poster is actually sick."

Marcus paused. The Bull knew about his poster?

"Yeah," Jordan continued, "I saw you working on it yesterday after school. You really love that fish, huh?"

Suddenly, the lightning outside didn't seem so dramatic. The spinach in his teeth didn't feel like a tragedy. Marcus turned around, hat still backwards, and smiled.

"Bubbles is the real MVP,"

The entire table laughed. And for the first time, Marcus thought maybe high school wouldn't be so bad after all.