Goldfish Summer

The carnival lights blurred together as Maya wiped her sweaty palms on her denim shorts for the third time. Behind her, the baseball fields were empty—practice had ended two hours ago—but she could still hear Coach Miller's voice yelling about follow-through and determination.

"You're up, kid," the carnie said, gesturing to the tank. Behind the glass, a single goldfish swam in lazy circles, completely unaware that it was about to become someone's prize.

Maya's friends were watching. Chloe was already rolling her eyes, checking her phone. Jake—Jake who'd smiled at her in algebra yesterday, who'd definitely noticed her new orange Converse—was pretending not to watch. But she saw him glance over.

The ping-pong ball felt impossibly light in her hand. The tank seemed miles away.

"You got this, Maya," someone whispered. Probably Marcus. Marcus, who always said things would be fine when they absolutely weren't.

Her first throw bounced off the rim. The carnie shook his head, like this was the most disappointing thing he'd seen all summer.

"That's bull," Jake said, suddenly beside her. "The rim's rigged."

Maya's heart did this stupid flutter thing. "It's okay. It's just a fish."

"No, it's principle." He dug into his pocket, pulled out a crumpled five. "Another round. You too."

They stood shoulder to shoulder, throwing ping-pong balls at a rigged tank while Chloe finally put down her phone and Marcus started chanting something that sounded like a baseball cheer. The summer air smelled like fried dough and ozone from the coming storm.

Jake's ball missed. Maya's didn't.

The goldfish splashed into the plastic bag, swimming like it had just won the lottery. Jake was laughing. Chloe was actually smiling. And for the first time all summer, Maya's palms were dry.

"Name him Bubbles," Jake suggested. "Or Strikeout."

"I was thinking Slugger," Maya said.

Outside the carnival gates, palm trees swayed against the orange-streaked sky. The goldfish bag swung from Maya's fingers, catching the last light of summer. Jake walked beside her, their elbows brushing every few steps, talking about everything and nothing, while behind them the carnival lights kept flickering on like stars that had fallen to earth.