Goldfish in the Aisle

Maya stared at the plastic goldfish bowl on the counter of her family's bodega, Electric Blue, the fish with the crumbled fin, swimming in endless circles like her own thoughts about Tyler from AP Bio.

"You take your vitamin D yet?" her mom called from the back, making Maya jump. At sixteen, she was still expected to swallow orange-flavored horse pills while her friends posted sunset pics without parental supervision.

She slipped behind the counter and grabbed a soda from the cooler when nobody was looking. The TV in the corner—hooked up with a janky coaxial cable that her brother swore he'd fix three months ago—flickered through static before landing on some reality show where people's lives seemed so much more exciting than restocking shelves in Brooklyn.

The front door chimed. Tyler.

Her stomach did that terrible flippy thing. He headed straight for the refrigerated section, probably grabbing one of those spinach wraps her mom insisted on stocking because "health consciousness is the future, mija."

"Hey," Tyler said, suddenly right there. "Your brother around? We were supposed to game."

Maya's face burned. Of course. Tyler wasn't here for her. He was here for Lucas, who had somehow managed to be both a varsity athlete and the person everyone wanted to hang with, while Maya was just... the girl who worked at the store.

"He's in the back," she managed, gesturing vaguely toward the storage room.

Tyler reached for his wallet, and Maya's eyes landed on the goldfish again—still swimming, still circling, completely unaware that it was trapped in a six-gallon world where nothing ever changed.

"Wait," she said, surprising herself. "You want one? Fresh batch this morning. My mom makes them."

Tyler paused. Actually considered it. "Yeah. Sure."

He handed over a five-dollar bill. Their fingers brushed.

Maybe tomorrow she'd finally ask if he wanted to study together. Maybe not. But at least she'd offered him a spinach wrap instead of shrinking into the background again.

The goldfish did another lap. Maya straightened her spine and did the same.