Goldfish Memories & Other Survival Skills

Maya's phone buzzed with a text from Chloe: *Spill the tea. What happened at Jake's party?*

Maya groaned into her pillow. The party had been three weeks ago, and her social life had basically been operating on goldfish memory ever since—three seconds of confidence, then total reset.

She dragged herself to the kitchen, where her mom was doing that thing again. The Vitamin Evangelism.

"You need these, Maya," her mom said, pushing a neon-orange bottle across the counter. "Teen girls need iron. And B12. And probably other letters I can't pronounce."

"I'm good," Maya mumbled, reaching for the spinach smoothie she'd prepped because at least spinach didn't come with a lecture.

Her cat, Nacho, wound around her ankles, screaming for breakfast like his life depended on it. Maya dumped food into his bowl, thinking about how Nacho had more game than she did. He just demanded what he wanted and got it. No overthinking. No mental gymnastics about whether Jake had noticed her new dress before he started making out with Sarah by the soda cooler.

"You look like a zombie," her little brother observed, shuffling into the kitchen. "Again."

"Thanks, Leo. Your honesty is truly a gift."

"Seriously. What's the point of being a teenager if you're just gonna walk through life like the undead?"

Maya almost smiled. Almost.

Her phone buzzed again. Another text from Chloe: *Jake broke up with Sarah.*

Maya's stomach did that thing. The butterfly-thing? No, more like the "oh no now I have to actually make a move" thing. She grabbed the vitamin bottle.

"You know what?" Maya told her mom. "I'll take these."

Her mom's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Yeah. Can't face the apocalypse without proper nutrition."

She downed two vitamins with her spinach smoothie while Nacho purred victoriously at her feet. Some days you felt like a zombie, some days you were just a awkward cat, and sometimes—maybe sometimes—you actually figured out how to show up for your own life.

Maya texted Chloe back: *Wanna come over? We can plot my strategy.*

Then she added another text: *And bring horror movies. I need inspiration.*