The Night We Rode the Mechanical Bull

The neon lights of the county fair blurred through my tears. Jordan and I had been best friend since fourth grade, but lately they'd been treating me like I was invisible—too busy for our shared jokes, too cool for our secret handshakes. Tonight they'd ditched me for some seniors from North High.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice broke through my spiral. It was Riley, that quiet kid from my English class who always sat in the back wearing headphones like armor.

"Yeah," I lied, wiping my eyes. "Just allergic to fairgrounds or something."

Riley laughed, actually laughed, and something in my chest cracked open. "Wanna go waste money on rigged games? My treat. I have twenty burning holes in my pocket."

Ten minutes later, I was the not-proud owner of a plastic bag containing one depressed-looking goldfish. Its name was now Steve, because everything seemed funnier when you named it Steve.

"You know the thing about goldfish?" Riley said as we watched Steve swim in confused circles. "People say they have three-second memories. But scientists proved that's total BS. They remember for months. They recognize faces. They're not forgetful. People just assumed they were because they kept them in tiny bowls."

I stared at Riley. "Since when are you a fish expert?"

"Since I read things on my phone instead of listening to Mr. Henderson's lectures." Riley grinned. "My point is, everyone thinks Steve's just gonna forget everything that happens to him. But he won't. He's gonna remember this fair, this terrible plastic bag, and that random Tuesday he became someone's pet."

The crowd nearby erupted into cheers. The mechanical bull.

"Bet you can't stay on eight seconds," Riley challenged, eyes glinting.

"Bet you I can," I shot back, Steve and his plastic bag suddenly feeling like a weirdly good luck charm.

I rode that bull for 12.3 seconds while Riley screamed like a maniac and Jordan watched from the distance, looking smaller than they ever had before. When I got thrown off, I landed in the hay laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

"New friend?" Riley asked as we walked away, Steve bobbing along between us.

"Yeah," I said, and meant it. "New friend."