The Goldfish Operation

Marcus's phone buzzed on his nightstand at 2:47 AM — Taylor, blowing up his snap with something called "The Pyramid Protocol."

"Bro, you're seeing this? Some seniors built this whole spy network under the padel courts."

Marcus rubbed his eyes. Taylor had been chasing conspiracy theories since freshman year when she swore the cafeteria lunch meat was actually reconstituted soy protein. (She was right, but nobody believed her.)

"It's 3 AM, Taylor. This is your bull in a China shop moment."

"Just LOOK. They're using the goldfish in the lobby aquarium as dead drops. Codes in the tank."

That's when Marcus paused. Because he'd seen something weird there yesterday — little plastic capsules sinking to the bottom of the tank, right by the castle. He'd thought it was, like, weird fish decoration stuff. But what if it wasn't?

Fine. He was in.

The padel courts were technically closed after midnight, but Marcus knew the back gate code because his older sister used to play club league there before she moved to Portland for college. The air smelled like wet concrete and那种 specific teenage nighttime smell — someone had definitely been vaping behind the equipment shed.

"You got the goods?" Taylor appeared from behind a pillar, wearing all black like she thought this was some low-budget spy movie.

They crept to the lobby aquarium. Taylor pulled out a net and fished out three capsules from the castle. Marcus felt ridiculous — two seventeen-year-olds stealing what was probably just fish food or something — until Taylor twisted one open and a tiny USB drive fell into her palm.

"What if this is literally nothing?" Marcus whispered. "What if we're being clowns right now?"

"What if it's not?"

Back at her house, they plugged it into her laptop. Files popped up — not government secrets or test answers, but photos. Dozens of them, from a disposable camera someone had developed. Seniors. Teachers. People's windows at night. People who shouldn't have been photographed.

"They're spying on everyone," Taylor said, quiet. "That's the pyramid. Each person recruits three more people, and—"

"And it's just a creepy stalking ring," Marcus finished. His stomach dropped.

Then they saw it — a photo of Marcus's bedroom window. Taken last week.

That's when Taylor's screen lit up with an incoming call: UNKNOWN NUMBER.

They looked at each other. Something shifted between them in that moment, some shared realization that childhood was officially over and they'd accidentally walked into the adult world's messiest parts. Marcus grabbed her hand.

"We're not backing down," he said.

And honestly? He wasn't sure if that was bravery or just not knowing what else to do. But either way, they were in this together.