The Goldfish at the Top of the Pyramid

I was literally 5k into my morning run when my phone buzzed in my armband. Paige. Again.

'U coming to jess's party??'

I slowed to a walk, chest heaving. Paige and her friends had this whole social pyramid going on, and I'd been hovering somewhere near the middle since freshman year. Now we're juniors, and the climb up feels steeper every day.

The party. Everyone important would be there. Including Marcus, who'd actually smiled at me in chem lab yesterday.

I texted back 'maybe' because responding 'yes' immediately would be giving away too much game. The main character never says yes right away.

The problem was my little brother's science project. His goldfish, Bubbles, had literally just died that morning, and he was devastated. Mom was at a conference, Dad was working double shifts, and I was the designated emotional support human.

'It's just a fish,' I'd said, trying to be the chill older sister. 'We'll get another one.'

'NOT THE SAME,' he'd screamed, then locked himself in his room.

So instead of getting ready for the party, I found myself at PetSmart, staring at rows of goldfish swimming in tiny tanks, feeling like a fraud. This wasn't me. I was the girl who ran varsity track, who had perfect attendance, who didn't do spontaneous things like buying replacement pets at 7 PM on a Saturday.

'Need help?' A voice behind me.

Marcus. OF COURSE. Wearing that hoodie that made his shoulders look broader than they actually were.

'My brother's fish died,' I blurted, because apparently my brain had stopped functioning. 'I'm... bearing witness to his grief through goldfish replacement.'

He laughed. Not the polite laugh. The real one.

'That's actually kind of iconic,' he said. 'My sister made me help her bury her hamster in the backyard last year. We had a whole funeral.'

'That's so much worse than what I'm doing,' I said, and suddenly we were both laughing, and the stupid pyramid wasn't the only thing I was thinking about.

He ended up helping me pick out Bubbles 2.0. We missed the party entirely. Instead we sat on my front porch, eating the cookies I'd bought for the party, watching my brother stare at the fishbowl with the intensity of a scientist observing a breakthrough discovery.

'You're not going to Jess's party either?' I asked, trying to sound casual.

'Nah,' he said, leaning back against the railing. 'This is better.'

My phone buzzed again. Paige: 'party is LIT without u'

I turned it off.

Some climbs aren't about reaching the top. Sometimes they're about figuring out you'd rather hang out at the bottom with someone who gets it.