Goldfish Luck

The pool shimmered like something from a TikTok filter, all turquoise perfection and laughing bodies. Maya clutched her tray of spinach puffs like a lifeline, wishing she could dissolve into the patio tiles.

"You good?" Tyler asked, appearing beside her. His hair was wet, droplet tracing down his neck. Maya's stomach did that full-on gymnastics routine it always did around him lately.

"Yeah. Just. Social battery's at 3%."

He laughed. "Relatable."

Inside, the centerpiece—a giant bowl with three goldfish—glugged away on the snack table. Stupid party favor idea from Pinterest. Maya had voted against it, but here they were, playing life support to fish at a high school graduation party.

"Hey," Tyler said, "wanna check out the vibe by the actual pool?"

They walked outside. The evening air smelled like chlorine and coconut sunscreen. Maya's heart was hammering so hard she was pretty sure Tyler could hear it. This was it. The moment. All summer she'd been waiting for him to—

"Maya!" Sophie came rushing over, grabby hands and zero boundaries. "Come do your palm reading thing! Everyone wants in!"

Maya's cheeks burned. She'd done that exactly once, at sleepaway camp last summer, as a joke. Now suddenly she was the neighborhood psychic.

"I'm not actually—"

"Come ON!" Sophie grabbed her wrist. Tyler shrugged, that small smile playing on his lips. "I'll come watch."

Great. Now her crush was going to witness her fake fortune-telling to a bunch of drunk seniors. Maya sat on a plastic chair, extended her palm, and improvised. "You're going to... meet someone tall. And mysterious."

Oohs and ahhs. Someone shoved another spinach puff into her mouth. She chewed, laughed at something Tyler said, felt herself actually relaxing for once.

Then, during a lull, Tyler leaned in close. "Hey, you've got—" He gestured to his own teeth.

Spinach. Of course.

Maya's face caught fire. She scrambled to wipe it away, mortified, but Tyler was already grinning.

"Kidding. You're good."

He wasn't kidding. Later, in the bathroom mirror, a bright green fleck mocked her from between her front teeth.

But Tyler had waited. And walked her home. And maybe, just maybe, the goldfish were actually lucky after all.