The Filter Fish and the Pyramid Scheme

Maya's iphone buzzed for the third time in five minutes. Jake was blowing up her DMs again.

"u coming 2 the game?? 🙄"

She stared at the screen. The varsity baseball game. Senior year. Everyone would be there, including Jake's new girlfriend Chloe, who somehow made varsity cheerleading while maintaining perfect highlighter-streaked hair and a suspiciously curated feed.

"can't. busy."

"lol doing what"

Maya looked at her desk, where Fredrick—her rescued carnival goldfish with PTSD—swam endless circles in his bowl. He'd survived a pyramid scheme of bad decisions: first prize at a rigged carnival game, then abandoned in a dorm trash can, then rescued by Maya's roommate before being re-homed to her.

Fredrick was kind of her emotional support fish.

"fish stuff"

"ur weird"

The lightning crashed outside her window, illuminating the chaos of her room: half-eaten takis, AP calc worksheets scattered like confetti, a thrifted jacket she'd been meaning to return for three weeks. The storm had been brewing all afternoon, matching the knot in her stomach.

She didn't hate baseball games. She didn't even hate Jake. She just hated the way everything felt like a performance lately. Like she was constantly curating herself for an audience that was simultaneously judging her and not paying attention at all.

Her phone lit up again. Not Jake this time—Chloe.

"hey! jake said u weren't coming :( we were gonna get boba after. u should come!"

Maya stared at Fredrick, who stared back with his permanently surprised fish face.

She grabbed her keys.

Fredrick would be fine for two hours.

The gym was deafening—bass, bodies, that specific teenage smell of axe body spray and desperation. She spotted Jake and Chloe immediately, somehow at the center of their own social pyramid like they'd been planning it all along.

"MAYA!" Chloe waved, genuinely excited, and Maya felt something loosen in her chest.

Later, over boba that was definitely too sweet, they talked about nothing and everything. Jake made fun of her for leaving her fish alone. Chloe confessed she'd failed her chem test. Maya admitted she'd been avoiding them because she felt like she didn't fit in anymore.

"You're literally so weird," Jake said, but his voice was soft.

"But like, in a good way," Chloe added.

Her phone stayed in her pocket the whole time.

When Maya got home, Fredrick was still swimming his relentless circles, unchanged by the storm or her absence. Some things stayed the same. But maybe that was okay.