The Goldfish Summer

Alex stood in front of the bathroom mirror, streaking bright orange dye through her hair. The first day of sophomore year was three weeks away, and she needed a change. Something drastic. Something that said: I am not the same girl who won a spelling bee in seventh grade and cried when her crush didn't notice.

Her best friend Jordan had ghosted her all summer. Too busy with her new lacrosse team friends. Too busy for their weekly boba runs. Too busy to reply to Alex's texts about how weird it felt to be growing up, growing apart.

The dye stained Alex's forehead. Great. Now she looked like a frustrated Oompa Loompa.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan.

"You busy?"

Alex's heart did that stupid thing where it forgot how to beat normally. "No. What's up?"

"Can you come over? My goldfish died."

Alex almost laughed. Jordan's pet goldfish—literally named Goldie—had been alive for five years. It had survived Jordan's "I want to be a marine biologist" phase, her "let's redecorate my room" phase, and her parents' divorce.

"I'll be there in ten."

Alex wiped the orange dye from her skin and threw on her favorite hoodie. The one Jordan had given her for her birthday last year, back when they were still the kind of friends who finished each other's sentences.

Jordan's house smelled like vanilla candles and something else—something sweet and sad. They sat on Jordan's bed, watching the empty fishbowl catch the afternoon light.

"It's stupid to cry about a fish," Jordan said, but her eyes were red.

"No, it's not. You loved him."

Jordan picked at her chipped nail polish. "I feel like everything's changing. My mom's dating again. You're—you know." She gestured at Alex's orange hair. "Different. And I'm still here with my dead fish."

Alex hugged her then. Tight. Like they used to when they were kids, before high school made everything complicated.

"I'm still me," Alex said. "Still the girl who begged you to run away with me to build a blanket fort in the woods that time."

"We were seven."

"So? We could do it again."

Jordan laughed. "You're such a bear sometimes."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Good. It's good."

They built the fort in Jordan's backyard that night. Like they were little kids again. And for the first time all summer, Alex felt like maybe—just maybe—they could survive growing up without losing each other.