Poolside Static

Maya gripped her **iPhone** like it was a lifeline, sweat making the screen slippery. Every time she refreshed, nothing new appeared. Just the same three people in her group chat living their best lives without her.

"You coming in or what?" Someone yelled from the **pool**, splashing water that missed her by inches.

She shook her head, throat tight. The thought of exposing her pale, unremarkable body in chlorinated water surrounded by the popular crew made her stomach do actual gymnastics.

That's when she noticed it—a **goldfish** bowl sitting on a patio table, completely abandoned. The tiny orange fish swam in bored, tiny circles, looking as out of place as Maya felt.

"Weird, right?" A voice said behind her.

She jumped. It was Leo from her English class, the quiet one who always sat in the back. He gestured at the bowl with a lanky hand. "Who brings a goldfish to a rager?"

Maya shrugged, suddenly aware her swimsuit was two seasons old. "Maybe it needed a night out."

Leo laughed, and it was surprisingly genuine. A **cat**—some random calico that must've wandered from the neighbor's yard—slunk around the patio furniture, tail flicking with judgment. The cat regarded both of them with pure, unfiltered secondhand embarrassment.

"My phone's dead," Leo said, patting his pockets. "Can you believe people still use this ancient charger?" He held up a frayed **cable** that looked like it'd survived at least three generations of planned obsolescence. "My grandma refuses to upgrade."

The cat jumped onto the table next to the goldfish bowl. The fish swam faster, sensing impending doom.

"Your grandma's preserving history," Maya found herself saying, surprising herself with how easily the words came. "That cable's officially vintage."

"That's one way to frame 'barely functional.'" Leo's grin was crooked, kind of endearing. "Hey, I was gonna walk to 7-Eleven for slurpees. Wanna split one?"

For the first time all night, Maya's phone stayed dark in her hand, forgotten. The pool noise faded. The goldfish kept swimming its tiny, anxious circles.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I do."

The cat watched them walk away, finally satisfied with how the evening was turning out.