Goldfish in the Chlorine

Maya stood at the edge of the pool party, clutching her red solo cup like it was a lifeline. The water shimmered below, surrounded by kids who'd known each other since kindergarten, while she was still the new girl who'd moved to Maplewood three weeks ago.

"You gonna swim or just supervise?" Jeremy called from the pool, flicking water that droplets sparkled on her arms. Maya's stomach did that thing it always did when he talked to her – like someone had set off fireworks in her gut.

"I'm good," she managed, though her voice cracked. Smooth.

Her phone buzzed. Mom had sent her to the party with strict instructions: "Make friends, Maya. You're sixteen, not a hermit crab." Easy for her to say. Mom hadn't been the new kid eleven times.

Later, Maya sat on the patio with her pizza, desperately hungry after too much anxiety-not-eating. She'd just taken a massive bite when she saw Jeremy walking toward her, water dripping from his hair, looking like something out of a movie.

"Hey," he said, dropping onto the lawn chair beside her. "You're Maya, right? The new girl?"

Maya nodded, praying her mouth didn't have spinach in it. She'd packed her own lunch because she was vegan, but sometimes cafeteria pizza betrayed her.

"Cool," he said. "I won a goldfish at the fair yesterday. It's already dead. Parenting is exhausting."

Maya laughed before she could stop herself. "RIP Goldy."

"His name was actually Swim Shady," Jeremy corrected solemnly. "But yeah. Anyway, I was gonna say – you seem chill. Want to hang out sometime?"

The spinach in her teeth. It had to be there. It was definitely there.

"Yeah," she heard herself say. "I'd love that."

"Cool." He stood up. "Oh, by the way? You've got a little..." He gestured at his teeth. "Just so you know. Before you talk to anyone else."

Maya died. She actually died and came back to life as someone who never ate spinach again.

But as she hurried to the bathroom, she caught her reflection in the mirror and started laughing. Really laughing. Because Jeremy had still asked to hang out. spinach incident and all.

Some days, she thought, splashing water on her face, you just have to embrace the chaos. The goldfish died, the spinach shows up, and somehow, you still might just make your first real friend.