The Goldfish Protocol

I was definitely a zombie. Like, actual walking dead status. Third period AP Euro had drained my remaining life force, and my brain was operating on three hours of sleep and one iced coffee from the gas station.

"Dude, you good?" Marcus whispered, passing me a note. I stared at it. The letters swam.

"Fine," I mouthed back. I wasn't fine. I was busy spying—well, stalking—Sophia's Instagram story from this morning. She'd posted a picture of her track meet victory, arms raised, smile lighting up my entire existence even through a screen. Pathetic? Maybe. But freshman year had turned me into someone who analyzed every single social interaction like it was classified intelligence.

Running. That's what everyone did at this school. Literally, because half the population was on cross country or track. Figuratively, because we were all running toward something—college, acceptance, a future that felt both terrifying and electric. I ran too, but only because gym class required it.

"Zombie alert," Marcus muttered as Mr. Henderson started explaining something about the Industrial Revolution.

I needed something real. Something that wasn't this weird performance of being a teenager. So after school, I found myself at the fall festival, standing in front of a booth with tiny plastic bowls filled with water.

"Step right up! Win a goldfish!"

The guy running the booth was a senior, probably on the football team. I handed over three dollars, tossed three ping pong balls. One sank.

"You got yourself a fish, buddy." He handed me a plastic bag with a single orange fish inside, swimming in circles like its entire existence was this one small container.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Name it. Love it. Set it free eventually. That's the protocol."

I walked home with this goldfish—this tiny, fragile life—swimming beside me. And something clicked. We were all just fish in bags, swimming in circles, pretending we weren't terrified. Even Sophia. Even the seniors. Especially me.

My phone buzzed. A notification: @sophia_reyes started following you.

I almost dropped the fish.

The zombie feeling faded. Something real was starting. And for once, I wasn't running away from it.