The Goldfish in the Fedora

Jordan stared at their reflection, the fedora tilted at just the right angle. It was ridiculous, honestly—who wore fedoras to house parties? But Jordan wasn't exactly known for making sense. The hat was basically armor at this point.

Their cat, Pancake, wound around their ankles like she knew exactly what Jordan was overthinking. "You're right," Jordan told her. "This is cringe."

Jordan's phone buzzed. *party starts in 20. u coming or what?*

The whole social scene felt like performing for an audience that didn't care. Jordan grabbed their phone charger—a tangled cable that had seen better fraying days—and shoved it in their pocket. Better safe than stranded.

The party was already chaotic when Jordan arrived. Music thumped through cheap speakers, people clustered in the kitchen laughing about nothing. Jordan made it approximately thirty seconds before retreating to the backyard deck.

That's where they found Sam, leaned against the railing with a red plastic cup. Sam from calculus, who actually smiled at Jordan sometimes.

"Hiding too?" Sam asked.

"Always," Jordan said, gesturing at their fedora. "What about this masterpiece?"

Sam laughed. It was nice. Too nice. "Honestly? It's working for you."

They ended up talking for an hour—about school, about how high school felt like one long performance, about how neither of them knew what they were doing. It was the most real conversation Jordan had had since, like, forever.

Then Sam's eyes widened. "Wait, you haven't heard about the goldfish?"

"The what now?"

Sam led Jordan back inside to a ten-gallon tank on the counter. Someone had brought it as a joke—like, who brings a fish to a party? But now it was just... there.

"We named him Captain Fin," Sam said. "None of us know how to take care of a fish. We're literally texting Google at 2 AM like 'how much do goldfish eat' and panicking."

Jordan stared at the tiny orange fish swimming in confused circles. It was perfect. Absolutely absurd, totally out of place, just trying to figure out which way was up.

"Same, Captain Fin," Jordan whispered. "Same."

Sam laughed so hard they snorted. "You want to help us figure out how to transport him without dying? I think Tyler's going to adopt him, but—"

"I got this," Jordan said, tilting the fedora. "I'm basically a logistics expert now."

Maybe high school wasn't about figuring everything out. Maybe it was about finding people who made the weird stuff feel less lonely. Maybe it was about goldfish at parties and someone who got the joke without explanation.

"I'm keeping the hat though," Jordan said.

Sam grinned. "Wouldn't have it any other way."