Goldfish at the Door

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she had to wipe them on her lucky fox hoodie—the orange one with the ears that Jada said made her look like a "walking Tumblr post." But Maya loved it. It was her armor.

"You good?" Leo asked, leaning against the doorframe like he owned the place. Which, technically, his kind of did. His parents' house, his party, his unearned confidence.

"Totally," Maya lied. Her voice cracked.

Inside, the bass thumped like a second heartbeat. Someone's dog—a golden retriever named Brody, because of course—had escaped the backyard and was currently losing its mind over a spilled bag of goldfish crackers near the keg. People were taking videos. Brody was living his best life.

Maya spotted him across the room: Caleb. The reason she was here. The reason she'd spent two hours straightening her hair. The reason she was currently hyperventilating.

He was wearing that gray Henley that showed his forearms. Dead.

"Go talk to him," Jada shouted over the music, appearing with two red cups. "Or I will do it for you, and we both know how that ends."

Maya remembered last time. Jada had accidentally told Maya's crush that Maya had "weirdly strong opinions" about cereal. They had not hit it off.

"I got this," Maya said, mostly to herself.

She made her way through the crowd, dodging Brody (now wearing the empty goldfish bag like a party hat) and a group of seniors doing something concerning with a patio chair. Her palms started sweating again. She wiped them on her hoodie. The fox ears flopped. Committing to the bit.

Caleb turned as she approached. His eyes locked onto hers. Or maybe her forehead. Hard to tell in the strobe lights someone had definitely stolen from homecoming.

"Hey!" he shouted. "You're Leo's friend, right? The one with the—"

"Fox hoodie?"

"I was gonna say 'cool vibe,' but fox hoodie works." He grinned. His teeth were straight. Why were they always straight?

Maya's brain offered up approximately zero helpful responses. Instead, she said: "I like your dog's hat."

Caleb looked confused for a second before following her gaze to Brody, who was now being chased by two juniors trying to retrieve the goldfish bag. He burst out laughing. Real laughter. Not the fake kind people did at parties.

"That's not even my dog," he said. "I think he belongs to the neighbors."

"Oh."

"But I'm claiming him now. Brody's having the night of his life."

They stood there watching the chaos unfold—Brody barking triumphantly, goldfish crumbs everywhere, someone's phone recording it all for TikTok immortality. And suddenly Maya's palms stopped sweating. The fox ears felt less like armor and more like just a hoodie.

"I'm Maya," she said.

"Caleb," he said. "Want to help me catch him before my parents find out we're harboring a fugitive?"

Maya grinned. She didn't wipe her hands on her hoodie. "Absolutely."

Somewhere behind them, Jada was definitely taking a video. And honestly? Maya didn't even care.