The Goldfish Code

Leo's pet goldfish, Bubbles, had been staring at him for three years. That was longer than he'd been crushing on Maya, which was saying something.

"Dude, you're literally gonna become a goldfish at this rate," said Jay, slapping him on the back as they walked toward the **padel** courts. "Just talk to her already."

Easy for Jay to say. Jay existed at the top of the freshman social **pyramid** without even trying. Meanwhile, Leo was somewhere in the basement, hanging out with the kids who brought Yu-Gi-Oh cards to lunch.

But today would be different. Maya was playing in the tournament, and Leo had devised a plan. A terrible, desperate plan.

He'd become a **spy**.

Not a cool spy. A creepy spy who "accidentally" walked past the courts twelve times during her match. Who lingered by the water fountain exactly when she took hydration breaks. Who had somehow memorized her entire Instagram archive but still couldn't say hello in person.

"You good?" Jay asked, as Leo froze for the seventh time that hour.

"Yeah. Just. Hydrating."

Maya waved at someone behind him. Leo's stomach did that embarrassing flip thing. He turned slowly, ready to see some popular guy—

She was waving at him.

"Hey!" she called, jogging over. Her eyes were the exact same color as Bubbles's tank after his mom cleaned it. "You're Leo, right? From Mr. Harrison's class?"

"Uh. Yeah. Hi."

"I've been trying to get your attention all week," she said, laughing. "You keep walking away every time I look at you."

The social pyramid crumbled. The spy mission backfired. The universe was clearly pranking him.

"Oh," Leo said. "Sorry. I thought... never mind."

"Want to grab boba after the tournament?" She checked her phone. "Unless you have somewhere to be."

"Nope. Nowhere."

"Cool. It's a date, then." She winked—actually winked—and ran back to the court.

Jay stared at him. "Bro."

"I know," Leo said, already planning exactly how to tell Bubbles everything later that night. "I know."