Operation Goldfish

Marcus wasn't running away. He was just strategically relocating. Again.

Third time this week. Same routine: grab his backpack, his phone (obviously), and the emergency stash of snacks he'd hidden behind his useless collection of textbooks. Same destination: the park bench behind the community center where the WiFi was actually decent and his mom wouldn't think to look.

But this time was different. This time, he had the goldfish.

"You're literally kidnapping a pet?" his best friend Jayden had texted when Marcus explained his plan. "That's lowkey unhinged, bro."

"It's not kidnapping if he's miserable," Marcus had replied, gently tipping the glitter-encrusted bowl into his backpack. Bubble's original owner—his TikTok-obsessed little sister—had filmed exactly one video of him swimming before abandoning him to die of neglect on her desk. Marcus had been secretly feeding him and cleaning his bowl for weeks. They had a bond.

The park was empty except for some seniors doing tai chi. Perfect. Marcus settled onto his usual bench, carefully placing Bubble's bowl on the concrete beside him. The orange fish swam to the surface, mouth opening and closing like he was trying to say something profound.

"I feel you, little dude," Marcus murmured, scrolling through his school's Instagram stories. Everyone was at Jordan's party tonight. Everyone except him, because apparently inviting the quiet kid who sat in the back of chemistry would totally harsh the vibe.

Not that he wanted to go. Jordan's parties were always the same—people pretending to have fun while secretly checking their phones every thirty seconds to make sure they looked good in someone's story.

Marcus was mid-scroll when he noticed it: someone watching him from behind the community center.

A girl. His age. Wearing a hoodie that looked suspiciously familiar.

She wasn't looking at her phone. She was looking at him.

His heart kicked up. Was this it? Had he finally been caught? Was someone about to expose his secret—no, not the goldfish kidnapping, his OTHER secret. The one he'd been hiding since seventh grade, when he'd first realized that sometimes he didn't feel like a "he" at all, that sometimes the whole gender thing felt like a costume that didn't quite fit right.

He'd told exactly zero people. Not even Jayden. Especially not Jayden, who still made those "that's gay" jokes whenever someone did anything even slightly different.

The girl stepped closer.

Marcus grabbed Bubble's bowl. If he had to run again, the fish was coming with him this time.

"You're Marcus, right?" she called. Her voice was weirdly steady for someone approaching a strange guy in a park at night.

"Who's asking?"

"I'm Riley. Jordan's cousin." She gestured vaguely toward the party he could hear thumping in the distance. "I saw you leaving your house earlier. With the fish."

Marcus's stomach dropped. "You're spying on me?"

"Nope. Just future FBI agent. Currently failing surveillance training because I forgot my hoodie had reflective lettering." She shrugged, joining him on the bench. "Anyway, I figured you might want some company. That party sounds miserable."

They sat there for an hour. Marcus talked about gender stuff he'd never said out loud before. Riley talked about how everyone expected her to be this perfect girl child but she secretly wanted to be a mechanic.

Bubble swam in happy circles.

"You know," Riley said finally, "running away is exhausting. Maybe next time, we just stay put and dare people to say something."

Marcus watched the fish swirl around his tiny castle. "Yeah. Next time."

He was still running, technically. But for the first time, he wasn't running alone.