Three Seconds of Goldfish

The bass thumped against Maya's chest as she stood in the corner of Jake's basement, her fingers practically glued to her iPhone screen. Refresh. Still no new notifications. Just Kylie Jenner's latest post and a TikTok someone had sent her three hours ago.

"You look like a goldfish," someone said beside her.

Maya looked up. It was Leo, that quiet kid from her English class who always wore black hoodies and sat in the back row.

"What?"

"You know, three-second memory span. Always scrolling for something new." He nodded at her phone. "My dog does the same thing. Gets bored, walks in circles, forgets what he was doing."

Maya felt her face heat up. She shoved her phone in her pocket. "I was just—waiting for a text. From my mom."

"Sure." Leo shrugged. "My cat would believe that. Maybe."

They stood there in awkward silence for approximately forever. The kitchen island behind them was piled with chips, salsa, and—randomly—a whole papaya that someone's mom had apparently insisted on bringing. Who brings papaya to a high school party?

"So," Leo said. "You gonna eat that papaya, or..."

Maya laughed, surprising herself. "Is that your pickup line? Because it's weird."

"Hey, weird is better than standing here pretending we're not both socially anxious disasters." He picked up the papaya. "My parents used to have these huge fights about cutting fruit. Like, passionate screaming matches about the 'proper technique.'"

"Wait, seriously?"

"Cross my heart." He actually did. "Dad was Team Cube, Mom was Team Slices. I learned to escape to my room before the knives came out."

"That's—actually kind of adorable? In a dysfunctional way?"

They spent the next twenty minutes debating fruit-cutting techniques while Maya's phone stayed in her pocket. For the first time all night, she wasn't thinking about who was watching her story or how many likes her post from yesterday got. She was just... talking. To someone who got it.

When Jake's mom came down at midnight to break everything up, Leo texted her almost immediately.

fish boy: u survived

Maya grinned at her screen.

maya: barely. ur papaya story is lowkey iconic

fish boy: 🐟 same time next week?

She typed back: maybe.

Her phone buzzed again. This time, she didn't check it immediately. Three seconds could wait.