The Goldfish at the Top

The cafeteria social pyramid stood before me like a monument I'd never be allowed to enter. Top tier: varsity jackets and perfect skin. Middle: band kids, theater weirdos, people who tried too hard. Bottom: everyone else, including me and my one and only friend, Kai, who was currently staring at a goldfish in a bowl on the lunch table.

"Why's he just swimming in circles?" Kai asked, poking the glass like he expected the fish to high-five him back.

"Bro, that's literally his whole life," I said, opening my chocolate milk. "Swim. Eat. Forget. Repeat."

Kai nodded like I'd just dropped some profound wisdom instead of stating obvious fish facts. That was the thing about Kai—he made everything feel deep. Even a goldfish's three-second memory span became a metaphor for the human condition when he talked about it.

"What if we're the goldfish?" he said, eyes wide. "What if we're just swimming in circles thinking we're going somewhere?"

I laughed. "Dude, we're freshmen. We ARE going somewhere. Up." I gestured to the popular table where Sarah Martinez sat laughing at something I couldn't hear. She'd noticed me once this year when I picked up her dropped pen. She'd said "thanks" and I'd said "yeah" and then I'd walked into a door.

Smooth.

Kai followed my gaze. "The pyramid, man. It's all in your head."

"Easy for you to say. You're in band. You have your own pyramid."

"True," he said, grinning. "But at least in band, we're all making noise together. Here? Everyone's just pretending to be someone they're not."

The goldfish did a little flip and Kai gasped like he'd just witnessed a miracle.

"See?" Kai said. "He's not swimming in circles. He's practicing tricks. He's got goals."

I looked at the fish, then at Sarah, then at Kai who'd stuck with me through braces and bad haircuts and that time I threw up at the homecoming dance. Maybe he was right. Maybe the pyramid wasn't about climbing up—it was about finding the people who'd swim in circles with you until you figured out which way was forward.

"Yo," I said. "You want to come over after school? My mom got those spicy chips you like."

Kai's grin lit up his whole face. "Bet."

The goldfish swam on, unaware he'd just changed my entire perspective on high school, friendship, and the art of not giving a heck about where you land in the pyramid.