The Goldfish Monologues

Liam stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, vitamin C tablet dissolving on his tongue like his courage. His mom had pushed the whole bottle on him yesterday—"for your immune system, sweetie"—but he knew the truth. She'd seen him deleting the party invite three times before finally accepting.

Outside, muffled bass thrummed through the drywall. Maya's end-of-summer pool party. The same pool where he'd belly-flopped in seventh grade while everyone watched. The same Maya who'd sat next to him in bio last year, leaving little drawings in the margins of his notes before she transferred districts.

He pulled on his cable-knit sweater over his swimsuit, defense mechanism number one. Who cared if it was eighty degrees? Armor came in all forms.

In his room, Finstad his goldfish did a lazy lap around the bowl.

"You're lucky," Liam told him. "Nobody expects you to be socially functional. You just swim and eat flakes and look contemplative."

Finstad blew a bubble. Real helpful.

His phone buzzed. pool's empty rn, where u at? from someone he didn't recognize—probably someone's friend-of-a-friend with the invite list. His stomach did that thing where it tried to exit his body.

But he'd promised himself: this year would be different. No more hiding. No more letting anxiety write his story before he could pick up the pen.

Liam grabbed his towel and headed out, pulse hammering like a trapped bird. The backyard glowed with string lights and laughter. Steam rose from the hot tub. People cannonballed into the water while others floated on inflatables, drinks held high. Normal teenager stuff. Stuff he should've been doing for years.

Then Maya broke from the crowd, hair wet, grinning like she'd just won something.

"Liam!" She waved him over like he wasn't the weird kid in the back of her bio class. "Finally. We're about to play chicken fight. You're on my team."

He tugged at his sweater. "I, uh—"

"C'mon." She splashed water at him, genuinely delighted. "Don't make me carry you twice."

Something loosened in his chest. Liam peeled off the cable-knit layer. The water felt cool, shocking, absolutely alive.

Finstad would be proud.