Sphinx in the Hallway

The cafeteria hallway stretched before me like a gauntlet of judgment. I gripped my dad's ridiculous trucker **hat** — the neon orange one that screams I don't belong here — and considered shoving it into my backpack. But wearing it was basically my personality now, or at least the one I was trying out this semester.

"Yo, Maya!" Marcus called, materializing at my locker. He was **running** on whatever energy drink powered his entire existence. "You coming to Jackson's party tonight? Everyone's gonna be there."

"Pretty sure 'everyone' is an exaggeration, but maybe."

"No, literally everyone. Even Jordan's going."

Jordan. The **sphinx** of sophomore year. Beautiful, mysterious, apparently allergic to speaking to anyone outside her elite friend circle. I'd been trying to decode her since orientation like she was some ancient riddle I was failing to solve.

Jackson's party was exactly what I expected: too loud, too crowded, too much trying to happen in one suburban basement. I wedged myself into a corner with a lukewarm soda, watching couples form like they'd been assigned by some algorithm I'd missed the memo on.

Then I saw it. On Jackson's parents' expensive shelf sat their prize: a massive **goldfish** in a bowl that looked way too small for its ego. It swam in endless circles, living its best lonely life while everyone pretended to have fun.

"He looks like he's plotting something," a voice said beside me.

Jordan. Actually standing there. Looking at me like I was a person worth talking to.

"Yeah, he's definitely judging us," I said. "Probably thinking we're all just swimming in our own little circles pretending we're going somewhere."

She laughed, actually laughed, and it wasn't the performative giggle I'd heard her use a hundred times. "That's deep, Hat Girl."

"Maya," I said, touching my hat self-consciously. "It's... a work in progress."

"I like it. It's brave." She stepped closer. "You know what's not brave? This party. I've been **bull**-shitting myself all night thinking I belonged here."

"We could bail?" I suggested, heart hammering against my ribs.

Jordan's eyes lit up. "Please."

We walked out into the cool night air, leaving the noise behind, two goldfish who'd finally found something real beyond the bowl.