The Fishbowl Party

Maya stood pressed against the kitchen counter at Tyler's house, clutching her iPhone like it was a lifeline. The red hat she'd found at Goodwill—fuzzy, oversized, and definitely not ironic—pulled down over her eyes. She could feel the sweat gathering at her hairline.

"You gonna stare at that goldfish all night?"

Maya jumped. Jake, the cute junior from AP English, was leaning against the counter next to her. His lacrosse jersey said "WILSON" across the back.

The goldfish in question—a tiny orange thing with bulging eyes—swim in endless circles inside a mason jar on the counter. Maya had been watching it for twenty minutes, using it as an excuse not to talk to anyone.

"He's got a better social life than I do," Maya muttered, then immediately wanted to die.

Jake laughed. Actually laughed. "That's objectively sad, but also kind of iconic."

He reached for his phone, knocked it against the jar, and suddenly—disaster. The jar tipped. Water splashed. The goldfish flopped onto the counter, gasping.

They both scrambled. Maya's hat fell off. Jake's phone slid into the puddle. But somehow, they got the fish back into water with a Solo cup.

"Oh my god," Maya whispered, clutching the cup with both hands. "We almost killed Kevin."

"You named him Kevin?" Jake was grinning now. His phone was ruined—screen completely black—but he didn't seem to care.

"He needed a name," Maya said defensively. "If we're gonna be accidental fish murderers, we should at least know who we're murdering."

"Fair." Jake held out his hand. "I'm Jake. Obviously. We have English together."

"Maya. Obviously."

"You want to get Kevin out of here?" Jake gestured to the Solo cup. "I think he's had enough party for one night."

So Maya spent her first real house party walking home with a cute boy, a goldfish in a red cup, and a hat that kept slipping down over her eyes. Her iPhone buzzed with seventeen notifications she'd ignore until morning.

She caught her reflection in a shop window—hat askew, cup cradled like a precious thing, Jake laughing at something she'd said.

She looked ridiculous. She looked exactly like herself. And for the first time all night, she didn't want to be anyone else.