Goldfish Memory Summer

I pressed my back against the garage wall, playing spy like my life depended on it. From here, I could see everything happening at Maya's pool party without actually having to, like, participate.

The popular kids splashed in the pool, their laughter carrying across the backyard. I watched Jordan – my forever crush since seventh grade – do a cannonball that made water cascade everywhere. My stomach did that thing where it forgets how to stomach.

"You're being literal right now," said a voice behind me. I jumped. It was Kai, the only person I actually trusted here. Technically we were friends, but sometimes the label felt shaky. "Either jump in or bounce, but lurking is giving major creep energy."

"I'm not lurking," I protested. "I'm... observing. Like an anthropologist."

"You're watching Jordan like he's a rare Pokémon. Just talk to him already."

I shook my head. My mom had made me take this giant vitamin before leaving the house – some stress-relief thing that tasted like chalk and artificial orange. It wasn't working. I still felt like my chest was compressed.

"Remember what you told me about goldfish?" Kai said suddenly.

"What?"

"That thing about goldfish having a three-second memory. How they can't remember embarrassing stuff, so they just keep swimming without overthinking everything."

"That's scientifically not even real."

"But the VIBE is real, Zara." Kai stepped closer to the pool edge. "Nobody here is thinking about you half as much as you're thinking about you. They're too busy worrying about themselves. We're all just goldfish in the same tank."

Jordan waved at me from the pool. "Hey! You coming in?"

My heart hammered. But then I thought about goldfish, swimming through their tiny bowls without a care in the world. No overthinking. No running through every possible awkward outcome. Just existing.

"Yeah," I called back, toeing off my sandals. "Yeah, I'm coming."

Maybe the goldfish approach wasn't scientific. But as I jumped into the cool water and Jordan grinned at me, I decided some myths are worth believing in.