Storms and Goldfish

Maya's phone buzzed for the third time. Skylar. The fox emoji next to his name felt like it was mocking her. "You coming to Jake's party or what? Don't be a loser about it."

Maya stared at her reflection, checking her eyeliner for the tenth time. Her cheeks flushed with that familiar lightning-strike feeling she got whenever Skylar texted her. Which was stupid, because he'd made it clear they were "just friends" last month when she'd tried to hold his hand at lunch.

Her mom's voice drifted up from the kitchen. "Don't forget to feed Goldie before you go!"

Goldie. The goldfish Maya had won at the carnival last summer, back when she and Skylar had spent four hours in line for dippin' dots and he'd let her wear his hoodie because she was cold. Now Goldie was her only confidant, swimming endless circles in his bowl while she poured out her teenage drama.

"I'm not going," Maya told her reflection. Why torture herself watching Skylar flirt with Brittany, who had somehow developed curves over summer break while Maya was still waiting for hers to show up?

Thunder rattled her window. The weather app showed a massive lightning storm moving in. Perfect.

She changed into sweatpants, grabbed the fish food, and sprinkled flakes into Goldie's bowl. "At least you don't have to deal with feelings," she whispered. Goldie just swam to the surface, opening and closing his mouth like he understood.

Her phone lit up again. Skylar. Again. "Brittany's not coming. Jake's parents left pizza money. Please come? It's not the same without you."

Maya's heart did that lightning thing again. Fox emoji. Brittany not coming. Please?

"Whatever," she typed back, fingers trembling. "I'll be there in 15."

As she grabbed her jacket, something crashed in the living room. Lightning flashed so bright it turned everything white. When the thunder followed three seconds later, Maya found her mom kneeling beside Goldie's bowl, which had shattered across the floor.

"He jumped!" her mom said, bewildered. "I don't understand—"

Maya found Goldie flopping in the carpet, gills working frantically. She scooped him up, heart pounding, and sprinted to the bathroom. Filled the sink with water, dumped him in. He floated there, not moving.

"Goldie, no," she whispered. "You can't leave me too."

For thirty seconds, nothing. Then his tail flicked. Once. Twice. He was alive.

Maya sat on the bathroom floor,Goldie recovering in the sink, and called Skylar. "I can't come tonight."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm currently saving a life," she said, and surprised herself by smiling. "And because that's more important than watching you play beer pong with Jake."

She hung up before he could respond. Goldie was swimming again, slow but sure. And Maya realized she didn't need to chase after foxes when she had a survivor right here.