The Night Everything Almost Went Wrong

Marcus stood outside Jordan's house, heart basically doing jumping jacks in his chest. This was it — first real house party, no parents, actual social currency on the line. He'd spent two hours on his hair and was now regretting every life choice that led to wearing this neon orange hoodie his aunt bought him as a "bold fashion statement."

Inside, bass thumped through walls like the house had a pulse. Marcus grabbed a soda, trying to look like he belonged, when Jordan's cat — this massive judgmental fluff-ball named Colonel — wound through his legs and nearly sent him face-first into a bowl of chips. "Nice save, bro," Jordan called out, high-fiving him like Marcus had just pulled off some epic skateboard trick instead of almost dying in front of everyone.

Then he saw her. Maya. From AP Bio. The one who'd caught him staring at her during that frog dissection (he'd been looking at her — the frog was irrelevant). She was across the room, laughing at something, and Marcus felt his brain short-circuit.

Suddenly, the TV went dark. Someone tripped over the HDMI cable. Panic mode engaged. Jordan's parents would kill everyone if they came home to broken stuff. "I got this," Marcus heard himself say, because apparently his mouth had zero communication with his survival instincts.

He dropped to his knees, fumbling with cords like he knew what he was doing (he didn't). Maya appeared beside him, offering to help. Their fingers brushed while reconnecting everything and Marcus thought he might literally evaporate from proximity alone. Then they heard it — splashing.

Maya's goldfish, isolated in a bowl on a shelf near all the cable chaos, had somehow survived the chaos. "That's Bubbles," she said. "Named him when I was seven. I know, I know — super original."

"Actually kinda iconic," Marcus said, and immediately wanted to erase his entire existence.

But she laughed. Not the fake polite laugh. The real one.

Later, they ended up on the porch, talking about everything and nothing. Marcus admitted the orange hoodie was a mistake. Maya confessed she'd failed her driver's test three times. Colonel the cat sat between them like a tiny, furry chaperone.

"You know," Maya said, "you're actually pretty chill. Most guys would've been running away from that cable disaster."

Marcus almost said something smooth. Almost. Instead he just smiled and said, "Yeah, well. Someone had to save Bubbles."

Maya's number was in his phone by midnight. The orange hoodie was still a fashion crime, but somehow, everything else had turned out okay.