Goldfish in the Wall

Maya's week started with a text from her mom: "Watching your aunt's house. Don't let her goldfish die."

Great. Maya was seventeen, practically an adult, and she was being trusted with—not a car, not money—but a goldfish named Barry. She stood in her aunt's living room, staring at the fishbowl on the counter. Barry swam in circles, looking as unimpressed with this arrangement as she felt.

Her cousin Leo's old cable knit sweater was draped over the couch. Maya pulled it on, letting the oversized fabric swallow her. She'd been doing that a lot lately—hiding inside things that weren't hers. Borrowing her friend Jenna's hoodies. Letting people make decisions for her. Even her hair, grown past her shoulders, felt like something she was just letting happen to her.

"Whatever." She flopped onto the couch, grabbed the remote.

The TV flickered, then died. Cable outage. Of course.

Maya sighed and wandered to the bathroom mirror, studied her reflection. Her hair was the same it had been since seventh grade. Safe. Expected. The kind of hair parents and teachers liked.

Her aunt's craft scissors sat on the counter.

*What?* No. She wasn't—that was crazy.

*Or was it?*

The goldfish swam past in its bowl on the bathroom counter. Barry watched her with unblinking eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," she muttered.

Maya picked up the scissors. Her hands trembled.

*What if I hate it? What if Jenna thinks I'm weird? What if—*

She chopped.

A lock of brown hair fell to the floor. Then another. She kept going, shorter, shorter, until her hair barely brushed her jawline. Choppy, uneven, wild.

She stared at herself. It was terrible.

It was perfect.

Barry swam to the front of his bowl, seeming to nod approvingly.

Back in the living room, the cable box blinked back to life. A reality show played on-screen—some makeover transformation thing. The old Maya would've rolled her eyes.

The new Maya grabbed her phone and snapped a mirror selfie. Captioned it: "Barry said it was time."

Jenna replied instantly: "OMG finally. Queen behavior. 🔥"

Maya grinned, touching her hair. It felt light. It felt like hers.