Goldfish Brain at the Pool Party

My friends call me Goldfish. Not because I'm orange or graceful, but because my brain apparently resets every three seconds during conversations.

"You good, bro?" Marcus asked for the third time.

"Yeah, totally," I lied, gripping my red Solo cup like it contained the antidote to social anxiety instead of lukewarm fruit punch.

Jessica's pool party was peak teenager simulation. The humidity alone was enough to make anyone regret existing. I'd been crushing on her since seventh period algebra, and tonight I was finally gonna make my move. Or at least say an actual sentence to her that wasn't related to borrowed pencils.

The food table was my safe zone. That's where I discovered it: a bowl of fresh papaya cubes. My mom's obsessed with "superfoods" so I recognized it immediately.

"Trying papaya?"

Jessica. Right there. Next to me. Wearing that bikini that made my brain short-circuit.

"What? Oh, yeah. It's... tropical."

What does that even MEAN, Liam? My inner monologue was screaming.

She laughed. Actual genuine laughter. "My dad got it from the farmers market. It's supposed to be good for your—"

SPLASH.

Some eighth grader cannonballed into the pool sending a tsunami of water directly at us. My papaya flew. Jessica's phone went flying. I grabbed her phone mid-air like I was training for the NFL.

"NICE!" someone yelled from the pool.

Jessica was dripping. I was dripping. The papaya was everywhere.

And then—I did it. I laughed. Not the nervous laugh I usually do when I want to disappear. Real laughter.

"Well," Jessica said, squeezing water from her hair. "That's one way to cool off."

"Goldfish brain activated," I said. "What just happened?"

She laughed again. "You saved my phone. You're officially my hero."

Maybe my three-second memory wasn't so bad. Sometimes you need to reset. Sometimes the moments that matter aren't the ones you plan—they're the ones that crash into you like a wave, leaving you dripping wet and holding someone's phone, realizing maybe you're not as awkward as you thought.

"Want to try the papaya?" I asked. "Before it becomes pool water soup?"

She took a piece. And for the first time all night, my brain didn't reset.