Goldfish Confessions

The gummy **vitamin** was shaped like a bear and tasted like artificial strawberry, but Maya swallowed it anyway because her mom had left a sticky note on the bathroom mirror: HEALTHY BODY = HEALTHY MIND. As if that was going to help with the absolute train wreck her social life had become.

She grabbed her backpack and sprinted toward the bus stop, **running** full tilt despite wearing her converse high-tops. Her backpack bounced against her spine with every step—thump, thump, thump—like a terrible heartbeat. She could see the yellow bus rounding the corner at the end of Maple Street, and it was NOT about to wait for her, not today, not ever.

She made it. Barely. Breathless and sweating through her gray hoodie, she collapsed into an empty seat across from Kai, who was scrolling through TikTok with his earbuds in. Kai. The guy who'd somehow gotten attractive over the summer and was now completely unapproachable. The guy who'd invited her to play **padel** at the new courts by the community center this Saturday. Padel. She'd never played padel in her life. Was it like tennis? Was it like ping pong on steroids? She'd spent three hours researching it on YouTube last night instead of sleeping.

"You look like you just ran a marathon," Kai said, sliding one earbud out. A ghost of a smile played at the corner of his mouth.

"Basically," Maya managed, trying to play it cool despite her hair sticking to her forehead. "Marathon training. Very serious athletic goals."

Kai laughed. It was a good laugh. "Right. So, Saturday? You still down for padel? My cousin has extra racquets."

"Yeah, absolutely." She hoped her voice didn't shake. "Super excited."

That night, Maya flopped onto her bed and stared at her **goldfish**, Bubbles, who stared back with his permanently bewildered expression. His bowl sat on her nightstand, a tiny, silent universe she'd somehow kept alive for six months—a personal record.

"I think I just agreed to athletic humiliation," she told Bubbles. He swam to the surface, opened his tiny mouth, and blew a single, determined bubble.

Bubbles was right. She could do this. Or she could completely embarrass herself in front of Kai. Either way, she'd survive. Probably.