Graveyard Goldfish

Maya's iphone screen lit up with another notification from the group chat. 'U coming 2 Jade's party?' Her thumb hovered over the keyboard, typing and deleting three different responses before finally hitting send: 'idk yet lol.' The truth was, she'd rather literally die than go to another party where she'd end up standing in a corner, nursing a warm soda while everyone else seemed to have been born knowing how to socialize.

She flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling where a Sphinx poster she'd thrifted watched her judgmentally. The Sphinx's riddle felt personal lately: What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? Maya's answer: Whatever creature was awkward at every single stage of life.

Her phone buzzed again. 'plzzz it'll be lame without u'

Maybe it was the desperation in her friend's text, or maybe she was just tired of her own walls, but Maya found herself pulling on her favorite ripped jeans and heading out.

The party was exactly what she expected: too loud, too crowded, too everything. She grabbed a drink and slipped out the back door, following the sound of splashing to Jade's backyard pond. A single goldfish darted through the water, its scales catching moonlight like tiny disco balls. It swam alone, yet somehow it didn't seem lonely.

'You hiding too?' a voice said behind her.

Maya jumped. It was Alex, that quiet kid from her English class who always wrote the deepest responses to their assignments. They'd never actually spoken.

'Yeah,' she said, surprising herself. 'It's a lot in there.'

He nodded, sitting beside her on the garden edge. 'I feel like a zombie at these things. Just going through the motions, you know?'

The goldfish surfaced, blowing a tiny bubble.

'Maybe that's okay,' Maya said slowly. 'Maybe we're all just swimming in our own ponds.'

Alex laughed. 'That's deep. You should write that down.'

'Maybe I will.' She pulled out her phone, opened Notes, and typed: 'Even goldfish are alone together.'

'Wanna go back inside?' Alex asked. 'Together this time?'

Maya looked at her phone lighting up with more messages from the group chat, then at Alex waiting for her answer. The Sphinx's riddle suddenly made sense — the answer wasn't about the number of legs, but about who you're walking with.

'Yeah,' she said, standing up. 'Let's do this.'