Goldfish Memorial Service

The pool party at Tyler's house was supposed to be legendary. SUPPOSED to be. Instead, I was standing in the corner clutching a Ziploc bag containing Bubbles, my dead carnival goldfish, while everyone else was living their best lives in the water.

"Maya! You coming in?" Tyler yelled. His dog Rex—a chaotic golden retriever puppy—bounced at his side, already wet and shaking water everywhere.

"Yeah! Just, uh, gotta send this text first." I waved my iPhone like it was the most important thing in the world. Because obviously admitting that I couldn't swim yet because I was mourning a fish I'd had for exactly twenty-three hours would be SO not chill.

Bubbles had lasted exactly one night. One. That was officially my shortest relationship ever, which was saying something.

"Is that... a fish?" Sophie appeared beside me, giving me the look she usually reserved for people who wore socks with sandals.

"It's Bubbles," I said defensively. "I was going to give him a proper burial."

"In a Ziploc bag?" She raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. "That's dark, Maya. Like, serial-in-training dark."

Rex chose that moment to launch himself at me, knocking the bag from my hand. It hit the concrete with a sad little squelch.

"NO!" I dove for it, but it was too late. Bubbles was officially on concrete. Again.

The entire party went silent.

Then Tyler started laughing. Not mean laughing—like, actually laughing. "Did you just bring a dead fish to a pool party?"

My face burned. I could feel it from my hairline to my neck. "It's called a VIKING FUNERAL, okay? They deserve respect."

"We can give him a proper sendoff," Tyler said, still grinning. "In the pool. Like, a burial at sea."

"That's disgusting," Sophie said, but she was smiling now too.

So that's how I ended up at Tyler Martinez's pool party, standing in a circle of teenagers in bathing suits, watching Bubbles sink gracefully into the deep end while Rex barked at the ripples.

"Rest in peace, little guy," Tyler said softly. And for some reason, that tiny moment of kindness made everything okay.

"Hey," he said, turning to me. "Since you're already in your clothes... want to just jump in?"

I looked at my iPhone on the table. Then at the water. Then at Tyler, who was actually kind of perfect.

"Bet you can't make a bigger splash than Rex." I jumped.

The water was cold. The iPhone was safe on dry land. And somehow, this was already the best worst day of my life.