Goldfish Memory

Maya's palms were sweating so much she might as well have been the one in the pool. She gripped the red Solo cup like a lifeline, backing away from the edge where Tyler—the absolute human equivalent of a golden retriever—was doing a cannonball that sent chlorinated water everywhere.

"You coming in?" he yelled, dripping wet and grinning like he hadn't a care in the world.

"Nah, I'm good," Maya lied, her voice cracking slightly.

This was it. The moment her social anxiety had been warning her about all week. Jessica's end-of-school pool party, where everyone who was anyone would be. And Maya, who had been practically invited by accident (Jessica had needed someone to help with the setup), was now stuck wearing a t-shirt over her swimsuit and clutching a cup of lukewarm punch like it contained the antidote.

She remembered seventh grade, when she'd won a goldfish at the spring fair and named it Mango. It had lived for three days before she found it floating at the top of its bowl. She'd cried so hard her mom let her skip school. Now she felt like that goldfish—gasping at the surface, completely out of her element, watching everyone else swim effortlessly through social situations she couldn't navigate.

"Hey."

Maya practically jumped out of her skin. Tyler had climbed out of the pool and was standing way too close, water still dripping from his hair onto his shoulders. He smelled like chlorine and something coconut-y. Probably sunscreen.

"You okay? You look like you're about to bolt."

"I'm not—" Maya started, then stopped. What was the point? She had been practically running toward the gate every time someone laughed too loud. "Honestly? I kind of want to."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Because of the party? Or because of..." He nodded toward the deep end where Jessica and her friends were doing TikTok dances.

"Both? Neither? I don't know." Maya sighed, finally looking at him directly. His eyes were unexpectedly kind. "I'm just not good at this stuff. The whole... people thing."

"Same," Tyler said, and Maya almost laughed.

"You? You're like, the most popular guy in our grade. You're literally human sunshine."

"Fake it till you make it, right?" He shrugged, drying off his arms on a towel. "I've been coming to these parties since freshman year and I still spend half the time wondering if everyone's secretly laughing at me."

Maya stared at him. "Seriously?"

"Dead serious." He gestured toward a cluster of palm trees in the corner of the yard. "I usually hide over there when it gets too much. Want to join?"

For the first time all night, Maya's palms stopped sweating. "Yeah," she said, a genuine smile finally finding its way to her face. "Yeah, I'd like that."