Goldfish Memory & Summer Ghosts

Maya's first real memory from that summer: standing behind the counter at Fish & Chips Friday, absolutely zombified after staying up until 3am scrolling through Jake's Instagram. Again. The decorative sphinx statue in the corner—leftover from the restaurant's weird Egypt phase—seemed to be judging her life choices.

"You look rough, kiddo," said Marcus, flipping a burger with practiced ease. "Even worse than usual."

"Thanks, Marcus. Really feeling the love today."

The cable TV above the counter was playing music videos on loop. Every time Drake came on, Maya's stomach did that awful flip thing, like she'd swallowed a live goldfish whole. Jake had posted a story with Drake lyrics two nights ago. Was it a sign? Was he thinking about her? Or was she just reading way too much into everything because she was fifteen and desperate and this is what her brain had become?

Her phone buzzed. CHLOE: "did you see jake's story??"

Maya typed back: "no i was busy having a life lol"

Chloe: "lol ok but he was at sarah's party 🤔"

Maya's finger hovered over the screen. That hollowed-out feeling hit her chest, the one that felt like breathing underwater.

"Yo, Earth to Maya," Marcus said. "Order up. Table seven's been waiting forever."

She grabbed the plates and headed out, moving through the restaurant like a ghost. Past the sphinx. Past the cable news that no one watched. Past the arcade games where that fox of a boy—Jake, with his clever grin and eyes that crinkled when he laughed—had beaten her at air hockey three weeks ago, standing way too close, smelling like coconut sunscreen and possibility.

That was the thing about crushes, right? They made you feel like a goldfish—same three seconds of hope on repeat, forgetting you'd already felt this exact disappointment yesterday.

"Here you go," she said to table seven, forcing a smile that felt painted on.

Outside, through the window, she saw a flash of orange. An actual fox, trotting through the parking lot like it owned the place. The fox paused, looked back at her through the glass, and Maya could've sworn it was laughing at her entire existence.

Her phone buzzed again. JAKE: "hey you working tonight?"

Maya stared at the message, her heart suddenly doing that thing where it forgot how to rhythm.

The sphinx wasn't judging anymore. The cable TV wasn't annoying. Even the goldfish feeling in her stomach had transformed into something else—something like electricity, or maybe just the terrifying possibility that sometimes, against all odds, the universe actually gave you exactly what you'd been too afraid to ask for.

She typed back, "yeah until 9. you coming by?"

Jake: "maybe. got something to show you"

Maya set down her phone and looked Marcus straight in the eye. "I'm not a zombie anymore."

He grinned. "We'll see, kid. We'll see."