Goldfish Boy and the Zombie Bear

Marcus shuffled through the cafeteria line, feeling like a zombie after staying up until 3 AM scrolling through Maya's Instagram for the fourth time that night. His backpack strap caught on someone's chair—classic Marcus move—and his tray did that embarrassing wobble thing before he caught it.

"Nice save, Goldfish," Maya teased from two tables over. She was wearing that oversized hoodie she always stole from her older brother, the one with the bear logo on the front. Marcus's stomach did literally seventeen flips. Maya had called him Goldfish since seventh grade health class when he'd somehow mixed up the memory span facts and claimed goldfish remembered everything forever instead of three seconds. The nickname had stuck harder than the time he'd gotten gum stuck in her hair during their partner project.

He sat alone—again—and pretended to be super interested in his phone while everyone around him was deep in conversations he couldn't figure out how to join. That's when he saw it: the actual school mascot, a student in that sweaty bear costume, lumbering toward Maya's table like the world's clumsiest zombie. Someone had put a sign on its back that read "FREE HUGS (IF U DARE)."

"Marcus!" Maya called, waving him over. "The bear needs a bailout before Tyler tries to pants it again."

His legs moved before his brain could overthink it. He ended up squished between Maya and the bear, which smelled like old PE uniforms but also—this was weird—like vanilla? Maya was laughing so hard she leaned into his shoulder, and Marcus suddenly understood every cheesy movie moment he'd ever rolled his eyes at.

"You know," Maya said, still catching her breath, "goldfish actually have pretty good memories when they're not stuck in tiny bowls. Maybe you're not the Goldfish anymore."

Marcus looked at her—at the loose hair escaping her messy bun, at the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, at everything he'd noticed from across the cafeteria for two years but never thought would notice him back. The bear mascot gave him an awkward thumbs-up.

"Yeah," Marcus said, his voice doing that weird cracking thing. "Maybe I'm upgrading."