The Goldfish Monologue

Marcus stood in the cafeteria, clutching his tray like a shield. The zombie makeup from first period—practically applied for drama class—had smudged across his forehead. Great. Now he looked like an extra who'd gotten rejected from a B-movie casting call.

Across the room, Sarah laughed at something Tyler said. Tyler, whose hair always fell perfectly. Tyler, who'd never understand the pressure of being the new kid.

Marcus's phone buzzed. His mom again: Did you feed the dog?

He'd forgotten. Again. Buster was probably sitting by his empty bowl, giving the door those puppy eyes that worked on literally everyone except Marcus's dad, who claimed animals were "a distraction from what matters."

"Yo, Marcus!" Jayden slid into the seat opposite him, smelling like Axe body spray and confidence. "You trying out for the fall showcase?"

Marcus shrugged. "Maybe."

"You should. That monologue you did in English was straight fire."

The monologue. The one about his goldfish—that lasted three days before his sister accidentally overfed it. He'd turned it into this whole metaphor about how everything's temporary anyway, so why bother getting attached, and Ms. Reynolds had actually cried. But performing it in front of the whole school? That felt different.

"I don't know," Marcus said. "It feels kind of... personal?"

"That's what makes it real though." Jayden stole a tater tot from Marcus's tray. "Nobody wants to hear some basic stuff about how hard it is to wake up for school. They want the stuff that hurts."

Marcus pushed his food around. The cafeteria spinach sat limp and sad, kind of like how he felt most days since moving here.

Sarah walked past their table. She didn't even look at him.

"She knows," Jayden said quietly.

"Knows what?"

"That you're funny. And that you can actually act. She was in the front row when you did that thing about the goldfish." Jayden grinned. "Bro, I saw her. She was leaning forward. That's interest, my guy."

Marcus looked down at his zombie-smudged arm. Maybe the makeup wasn't so bad. Maybe it was exactly what he needed to be—someone who wasn't afraid to look a little messy, a little real.

"So the showcase," Marcus said. "When's sign-ups?"