Goldfish & Lightning Strikes

My room had become mission control. For three weeks, I'd been the worst kind of spy — not the cool James Bond type, but the pathetic girl who'd created a fake TikTok account just to see what Marcus posted without following him. The sad part? He'd never notice me anyway. At school, I was basically invisible, while he was busy being the guy everyone noticed.

My goldfish, Gerald, swam to the front of his bowl like he sensed my dramatic energy. "You wouldn't get it," I told him. "You're literally living in a glass box but you've never felt more trapped than I do right now."

Gerald just blew bubbles at me. Rude.

Outside, summer lightning cracked the sky purple, the storm finally matching the chaos in my head. My phone lit up with a notification from Marcus's actual account — he'd posted something new. My thumb hovered over it like my life depended on not clicking, which, honestly, felt true.

But then another notification slid across my screen. Marcus was live.

I almost dropped my phone. Almost.

"Okay, universe," I whispered. "If you want me to bear my soul and possibly humiliate myself, fine."

I clicked through, heart hammering against my ribs like it was trying to escape my chest. Marcus was sitting on his front porch, rain sheeting down behind him, looking weirdly serious for someone who usually posted thirst traps and bad dance trends.

"So," he said, addressing the twenty-something people watching, "I've been trying to work up the courage to say something. There's this girl in my English class who sits by the window. She always wears those Converse with the Sharpie drawings on them. She's probably watching this right now, and honestly? That's kind of terrifying."

My drawings. My shoes. Me.

"Anyway," Marcus continued, "if you're seeing this, and you think I might mean you — I'm working at the coffee shop on Fourth tomorrow. If you wanted to come by, that would be... yeah. That would be cool."

He ended the live like it was nothing.

I stared at my screen, then at Gerald, who was still swimming in circles like nothing had just happened.

"Dude," I said. "I think I'm about to have a first date."

Gerald didn't respond, but lightning flashed again, and this time, I didn't feel trapped at all. I felt like someone who was finally about to be seen.