Goldfish & Gravity

Marcus stood before the mechanical bull at Jake's summer party, sweat pooling in his lower back. This was it — his chance to finally impress Skylar, who'd been watching him with those amused eyes all night. The bull ride was five bucks, and Marcus had exactly five bucks left after buying three slices of pizza and a lemonade that tasted like carbonated disappointment.

"You got this, Marc!" his best friend Terry shouted, clearly enjoying Marcus's impending humiliation way too much.

The operator, a guy with a neck tattoo that said 'MOM' in gothic letters, smirked. "Last ride of the night, kid. Make it count."

Marcus climbed onto the bull, gripping the rope handle like his entire social existence depended on it. Which, honestly, it did. If he bailed immediately, he'd be forever known as the guy who couldn't even hang for three seconds. If he actually rode this thing, maybe Skylar would finally stop seeing him as just the quiet kid from third period English.

The bull lurched forward without warning. Marcus's body went flying, but somehow — through some combination of adrenaline and sheer terror — he managed to clamp his thighs and hold on. The crowd cheered. Skylar cheered.

Then came the spin.

Marcus lasted exactly seven seconds before being launched sideways into the air, landing directly in the wading pool they'd set up for "safety." Water erupted everywhere, soaking several people including Skylar herself. She scrambled back, gasping as cold water splashed her favorite sundress.

Everyone froze.

Marcus sat in the shallow water, completely mortified. But then Skylar started laughing. Not mean laughing — genuine, head-back, can't-breathe laughing. Pretty soon, half the party was laughing too.

"You okay over there, Aquaman?" she called out, wiping water from her face.

Marcus stood up, water dripping from his hair, feeling somehow lighter than he had all night. "Never better."

Later, while waiting for his mom to pick him up, Skylar sat beside him on the curb. She held a clear plastic bag containing a tiny orange goldfish she'd won earlier.

"You know," she said, watching the fish swim in tiny circles, "I was gonna give this to you. For being the only person who actually tried something scary tonight."

Marcus smiled. "What are you gonna name it?"

"Bull," she said. "Because watching you faceplant into that water was literally the highlight of my summer."

His phone buzzed — a friend request from Skylar. Marcus leaned back and grinned at the stars, feeling like maybe, just maybe, disasters weren't always bad things. Sometimes they were just the universe's weird way of breaking the ice.