Goldfish Gravity

Marcus stared at the goldfish bowl on his nightstand, watching Neon float back and forth in that sad, endless loop. The fish was supposed to be his sister's, but she'd left it behind when she went to college, and now it was just... there. Like Marcus himself, stuck in suburban limbo while everyone else's life seemed to actually be happening somewhere else.

He was supposed to be at Jacob's house right now. The whole baseball team was gathering to watch the MLB draft on cable, because apparently Jayden's cousin knew someone who knew someone, and Jayden might get picked. Marcus wasn't even close to draft material, but he'd been invited anyway. Or he thought he had been, until he'd posted that TikTok of himself lip-syncing to show tunes, and suddenly the group chat went dead silent.

Now here he was, Friday night, watching a goldfish and wondering if he'd ever recover his social capital.

"YOU OKAY IN THERE, SWEETIE?" his mom yelled from downstairs. "WANT ME TO ORDER PIZZA?"

"I'M FINE," he yelled back, then immediately cringed. He was sixteen. He was not supposed to be home on a Friday night. He was supposed to be at Jacob's, pretending to understand baseball stats and laughing at jokes he didn't think were funny but laughing anyway because that's what you did.

Buster, their golden retriever, pushed the door open with his nose and trotted in, tail wagging like Marcus's mood wasn't completely mid. Buster jumped on the bed and immediately knocked over a stack of magazines, sending them cascading to the floor.

"Great," Marcus muttered. "Thanks, buddy."

Buster nosed the goldfish bowl. Neon darted to the other side, scales flashing.

"Don't even think about it," Marcus warned, but Buster was already losing interest. The dog collapsed onto Marcus's feet like they were a throne, sighing dramatically.

Marcus's phone buzzed. Unknown number.

"Hey," it read. "This is Alex. From English? Saw your TikTok. That musical theatre stuff was actually kind of sick."

Marcus stared. Alex, who sat behind him in third period? Alex, who was definitely at Jacob's house right now because Alex and Jayden were basically attached at the hip?

"Thanks," Marcus typed back. "Figured I'd get cancelled before spring break anyway."

"Nah. Jayden's being weird about it but whatever. You wanna come over? We're ordering food and watching this terrible cable reality show instead of baseball because we're all bored out of our minds."

Marcus sat up, dislodging Buster. The dog whined.

"I'll be there in ten," he typed.

He stood up, grabbed his hoodie, and caught his reflection in the mirror. Neon did a little flip in the bowl behind him.

"Be right back," Marcus told the fish. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Buster followed him to the door, and Marcus realized the fish wasn't trapped at all. It was just waiting for the right moment to swim somewhere new. And maybe Marcus wasn't stuck either. Maybe he was just... treading water until the current changed.

He grabbed his bike helmet. The night air felt like possibility.