The Goldfish Protocol

Marcus stared at the social pyramid displayed on his phone screen—his older sister's leaked text thread from junior year. The hierarchy at Northwood High made sense in theory: popular kids at the top, everyone else scattered below. But Marcus was a freshman, and in practice, he was somewhere in the algae-covered bottom.

"You're going to be late," his mom called from the kitchen.

Marcus grabbed his lunchbox. Again with the spinach wrap. His mom had decided he needed to "eat more brain food" after he got a B+ in algebra. The wrap would smell like disappointment by noon, guaranteed social suicide.

His pet goldfish, Neptune, stared at him through the glass. Marcus had rescued Neptune from a carnival game where the fish prizes usually died within a week. Neptune was a survivor.

"At least someone gets it," Marcus whispered.

Neptune blew bubbles.

The real problem wasn't the spinach or his placement on the pyramid. It was that Marcus had accidentally become a spy.

Last week, he'd found his sister's old phone—the one she'd "lost" before graduation. Through some glitch, it still connected to the school's Wi-Fi. Her messages with her perfect friends were still there, floating in the cloud like digital ghosts.

He knew he shouldn't read them. But they were right there. And they revealed that the pyramid wasn't so solid after all. Even the queen bee had anxiety attacks before pep rallies. Even the lacrosse captain cried when his dog died.

"Marcus!"

He shoved the phone in his pocket and grabbed the spinach wrap.

At school, he saw them differently now. Not as gods and peasants, but as people. When Kylie-the-popular dropped her tray in the cafeteria, Marcus didn't laugh. He just remembered her texts about how she was terrified of messing up.

He sat with Neptune that night, feeding him a pinch of fish food.

"Being a spy changes everything," Marcus told him.

Neptune swam to the front of his bowl, eyes wide.

Marcus picked up his phone. He deleted the old texts. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is not know someone's secrets. The pyramid was still there, but Marcus didn't feel like he was at the bottom anymore.

He was just... swimming.