The Goldfish Pyramid

Maya stood in the corner of Tyler's basement, clutching a red solo cup filled with water like it was some kind of lifeline. The pyramid of empty cups on the beer pong table loomed in the distance, a monument to social hierarchy she definitely wasn't part of.

"You good?" Liam appeared beside her, looking annoyingly comfortable in his flannel. "You've been nursing that water for like an hour."

"I'm not good," Maya whispered, her eyes darting toward Jordan—the cute junior with the curly hair—across the room. "I'm literally spiraling. I said I'd help them with their history project and now I can't even say hi without feeling like I'm going to throw up."

"Bro, you're overthinking it." Liam bumped her shoulder. "Just go talk to them. What's the worst that could happen?"

Before Maya could answer, Tyler's cat, a chaotic orange tabby named Mango, went tearing through the basement, jumped onto a side table, and sent a fishbowl crashing to the floor.

"MY GOLDFISH!" Tyler screamed as water spread across the carpet like an incoming tide.

The entire party froze. The goldfish—tragically named Bubbles—flopped on the rug, gasping.

And then Maya was moving, dropping to her knees, scooping the goldfish into her hands, and sprinting to the kitchen sink. Her heart pounded as she gently placed Bubbles into a bowl of fresh water from the fridge dispenser. For thirty seconds, nobody moved. Then Bubbles's mouth opened and closed, opened and closed.

"It's alive!" someone shouted. The basement erupted in cheers.

Maya stood up, her hands shaking, to find Jordan standing right behind her.

"That was... actually legendary," Jordan said, grinning. "I'm Jordan, by the way."

"Maya," she managed, breathless. "Sorry about your carpet, Tyler."

Later, while they sat on the back steps eating slightly burnt spinach dip from a chipped bowl, Jordan leaned in close. "So about that history project... what time should I come over tomorrow?"

Maya smiled into the night air. Sometimes you had to save a goldfish to save yourself.