The Goldfish Summer

Maya's supposed best friend hadn't texted back in three days. Meanwhile, her goldfish—a carnival prize she'd won with Jake two weeks before he decided they were "growing apart"—kept doing that thing where it pressed its weird fish lips against the glass, judging her life choices.

"You're literally a fish," Maya told Bubbles. "What do you know about friend drama?"

Her mom popped into the doorway, holding out the orange plastic bottle. "Don't forget your vitamin D, sweetie. Dr. Patel said you're low."

Maya swallowed it dry, thinking about how she was low on a lot of things lately. Friends. Motivation. Patience for her mother's concern-trolling.

The bear incident happened two weeks later, when she'd finally forced herself out of the house to hike the trail behind the middle school. She wasn't even supposed to be there—some seniors dared her, and because she was desperately trying to reinvent herself as someone who did things, she'd said yes.

She was sitting on a rock, crying into her hoodie (she wasn't proud of it), when she heard the branches crack.

A black bear. Not even a full-grown one—a gangly teenager of a bear, staring at her with the same confused energy she felt every day in the cafeteria.

Maya's brain supplied five inappropriate panic responses, but her body went still. Someone on TikTok had said if you encountered a bear, you were supposed to make yourself big and loud. She stood up, waved her arms, and shouted—

"I'm literally having the worst summer and I don't have time for this!"

The bear blinked, then lumbered off like she was too much work to deal with.

She ran home, heart hammering, and found herself face-to-face with Bubbles again.

"Okay," she told the fish. "We survived. That's something."

Her phone buzzed. Jake: hey saw your story. you okay?

Maya stared at the message, then at the goldfish doing its judgment-face thing. She'd survived a bear encounter and a friendship implosion in the same month. She'd take her vitamin D tomorrow. Maybe even two.

She typed back: actually no. but i will be.

Bubbles swam to the top of the tank, and Maya finally felt like she could breathe again.