The Goldfish in the Infield

Maya's crush on Jake had reached pyramid-level proportions—like, ancient Egyptian monument massive. Every time he walked past her locker, her heart did this weird flippy thing that had nothing to do with the cafeteria's疑似可疑 fish tacos.

"You're staring again," said Lena, sliding onto the bench beside her. "Totally obvious. Like, goldfish-in-a-bowl obvious."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I'm not staring."

"You're definitely staring. And he's looking back."

Maya's stomach dropped. Jake was actually watching her from across the gym, wearing his baseball uniform like he owned the place. Which, fair enough—he basically did. Pitcher for the team, straight-A student, and somehow still managed to be humble about it.

The pep rally setup crew had decorated the gym with random Egyptian-themed stuff because their mascot was the Spartans but apparently the decorations committee had gotten confused. There was a cardboard sphinx propped up near the bleachers, looking mildly judgmental about everything.

"He's coming over here," Lena whispered. "Oh my god, OH MY GOD."

Jake walked up, cleats clicking on the gym floor, and Maya's brain short-circuited. She was about to say something smooth and cool, something that would make him see her as more than just the quiet girl in third period English.

Instead, she blurted out: "Nice sphinx."

What.

Jake laughed. Actually laughed. "Yeah, it's pretty weird. Hey, you coming to the game tonight?"

"Probably," Maya managed, her face burning. "With my... goldfish."

Lena practically choked.

"Your goldfish?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. He's a huge baseball fan. Named him Slider."

Jake was laughing for real now, grinning like he'd just won the lottery. "That's actually kind of awesome. You should bring him. Maybe he'll bring us luck."

"Sure," Maya said, regaining some dignity. "Slider's down for whatever."

"Cool." Jake headed back to his team, throwing a casual wave over his shoulder. "See you tonight, Maya."

Lena waited until he was gone before losing it. "Did you just tell the hottest guy in school that your pet goldfish is named Slider? AND invite him to a baseball game?"

"I mean, technically I don't even have a goldfish."

"You're the absolute worst," Lena said, wiping tears from her eyes. "But also kind of a fox. He was totally into it."

Maya thought about it—Jake's smile, the way he'd looked at her like she was actually interesting, not just some weird pyramid of awkward tension in the back of the classroom.

"Yeah," she said, grinning. "I think I might actually need to buy a goldfish now."