Goldfish in the Palm

Maya's hair kept frizzing in the humidity, exactly what she didn't need for what might be her first kiss. The house party thumped with bass too loud for conversation, which was probably the point. She'd spent forty-five minutes straightening her hair earlier, and now it was betraying her like everything else tonight.

Tyler leaned against the sliding glass door, all effortless confidence and goldfish crackers from the bowl he'd been raiding. How did some people just exist without overthinking every micro-expression?

"Wanna see something cool?" he asked, grinning like he knew something she didn't.

Maya's palms were so sweaty she could've watered a plant. "Sure?"

They ended up on the back patio, where Tyler's uncle's golden retriever, Buster, was losing his mind over a squirrel in the oak tree. Tyler fished a plastic baggie from his pocket.

"My cousin's beta fish died, but she refused to flush him, so she's got this whole ceremonial release planned. But the bag broke in my pocket." He held up a tiny goldfish swimming in literally two tablespoons of water. "Can you hold him for a second?"

Maya cupped her hands together like she was receiving communion, and Tyler poured the fish into her palm. It was the most absurd thing that had ever happened to her, and suddenly the humidity and her hair and the possibility of kissing didn't matter anymore.

Lightning cracked across the sky, purple-white and immediate, illuminating the fish's orange scales like they were glowing from inside.

"Whoa," Maya breathed. The fish wriggled in her palm, alive and completely dependent.

"Yeah," Tyler said, watching the storm instead of the fish. "Hey Maya?"

"Yeah?" She could feel its tiny movements against her skin.

"Your hair looks really good like that."

And just like that, something in her chest unclenched. The lightning flashed again, and for once, Maya didn't worry about the perfect response or whether she was doing it right.

"Thanks," she said, and meant it.

Buster finally noticed them and bounded over, nearly knocking Maya into the pool. She yelped, and the goldfish launched from her hands into the air, catching a perfect arc before splashing into the pool below.

They watched it swim away into the deep end.

"Well," Tyler said. "That's one way to release him."

Maya laughed so hard her sides hurt, and Tyler joined in, and the storm broke open with rain that soaked them both while everyone else stayed inside. Her hair was completely ruined now, frizzed into something wild and unmanageable, and her palms were fishy and gross, and it was possibly the best night of her life.