Goldfish Wisdom

Maya pressed her forehead against the cool glass of her aquarium, watching Finch—the most annoying goldfish on the planet—swim in endless, meaningless circles. "At least one of us is going somewhere," she muttered.

Three weeks ago, her best friend Lena had actually gone somewhere—straight into the orbit of the baseball team. Now Lena sat at their lunch table wearing a varsity jacket that wasn't even hers, laughing at jokes that weren't funny, while Maya sat alone feeling like the most pathetic human in the cafeteria.

Her sister's cat, Mochi, chose that moment to leap onto Maya's desk and send her textbook flying. "YOU LITERALLY HAVE ONE JOB," Maya yelled at the cat, who stared back with zero remorse. "Don't be a jerk. That's my thing."

Her phone buzzed. Lena: "wanna come to jason's party??"

Maya stared at the screen. Last year, they'd made fun of people like Jason. Now Lena was inviting her to his house like she was doing her a favor.

The goldfish swam to the surface, mouth opening and closing like it had something profound to say.

"What?" Maya asked it. "You think I should go? You think I should bear witness to Lena's transformation into someone I don't recognize?"

Finch did a little flip.

"Fine. Whatever."

The party was exactly as awful as Maya expected—red cups, people she'd known since seventh grade suddenly acting like they invented coolness, Jason everywhere. Lena found her immediately, eyes bright and slightly desperate.

"You came!" Lena grabbed her arm. "I didn't think you would."

"Neither did I," Maya said honestly.

Lena pulled her outside. The air was cold. "I'm screwing this up, aren't I?"

"The baseball thing?" Maya shrugged. "You seem pretty into it."

"I'm NOT," Lena said. "I'm into the fact that they noticed me. Which is pathetic."

Maya laughed. "We're all pathetic, Len. That's the whole point of being fifteen."

Lena looked at her like she was seeing her for the first time in weeks. "Remember when you made me carry that dying goldfish home in fourth grade because you couldn't deal with it?"

"Finch the First, rest in peace."

"You were such a baby about it."

"I was emotionally mature beyond my years, thank you."

They were both cracking up now, breathless in the cold air, and the baseball jacket and the lonely lunch table and the party inside didn't matter anymore.

"Wanna get out of here?" Lena asked. "We can go to your house and talk trash about everyone."

"Only if you apologize to Finch."

"To the fish?"

"He's got feelings. Unlike Jason."

Lena grabbed her hand. "Deal."

Inside, the cat knocked over another textbook. Outside, two best friend walked home together, and somewhere in the universe, a goldfish finally stopped swimming in circles.