The Night the Fox Found Me
Three AM and I'm basically a zombie at this point. Three energy drinks, zero brain cells, and this APUSH essay that won't write itself. My phone buzzes and it's Skyler, which is weird because she's been ghosting me since the party incident.
"You up?"
"Barely. Why?"
"Let you in on something. Meet me outside."
I sneak out the window because that's what you do when you're seventeen and your parents think you're studying. Skyler's waiting at the curb in her brother's car, and we drive to this park near her house. She brought her pet goldfish in a bowl, which lives in her backpack because her mom won't let it in the house.
"We're setting him free," she says. "Goldie deserves better than a backpack."
So we're standing there at this tiny pond at midnight like two lunatics with a fishbowl, when this fox just appears out of nowhere. The most beautiful thing I've ever seen – orange-gold fur, eyes that knew way too much, like he was judging our entire life choices.
The fox walks right up to us. Doesn't run. Just sits there watching like, "Continue, I'm listening."
"He's here for the release ceremony," Skyler whispers. "Here, Goldie. Go forth and conquer."
She pours the goldfish into the pond and it just hovers there, tiny fins flicking in the dark water. The fox dips his head like he's blessing the whole situation and then vanishes into the trees.
"That was the most metal thing that's ever happened," I say. "Did we just get blessed by a fox?"
Skyler's crying but smiling. "The party thing. I wasn't ghosting you. My parents are splitting up and I didn't know how to talk about it so I just... stopped talking. To everyone. But then tonight I remembered what you said in September – how we'd be best friend forever. And I couldn't do this alone."
She pulls a bottle of gummy vitamins from her pocket. "My mom says these fix everything. They won't, but... we can try."
We take two each and lie on the grass watching the sky get lighter. Neither of us finished the essay. But somehow, everything got done anyway.