Three Seconds of Lightning

Maya's parents said goldfish only remember things for three seconds. Standing in Bekah's bathroom at 2 AM, staring at herself in the mirror while muffled bass thumped through the door, she wished she could be a goldfish too.

Three seconds was exactly how long it had taken for everything to go wrong.

She pulled out her iphone, scrolling through the photos from earlier that evening. There it was: the moment. Lightning cracking through a stormy sky just as Bekah's golden retriever, Buster, decided the decorative pond in the backyard was his personal swimming pool. Maya had captured it perfectly—Buster mid-air, water and goldfish flying everywhere, that brilliant flash of lightning illuminating the chaos like something from a movie.

The photo had blown up. Four thousand likes on Instagram in an hour. Even people who'd never spoken to her were commenting: legendary, iconic, main character energy.

But Bekah hadn't laughed.

"You made my dog look stupid," was what she'd said, pushing through the bathroom door now, eyes rimmed with smudged mascara. "Everyone's tagging me in it. It's humiliating."

Maya's stomach twisted. "I didn't mean to—I just caught the moment. It was funny, Bekah. Like, actually funny."

"Whatever." Bekah checked her reflection, reapplied lip gloss. "You got your clout. That's what matters, right?"

Outside, rain drummed against the window. Another storm rolling in.

"I thought we were laughing together," Maya said quietly.

Bekah met her eyes in the mirror. "Yeah, well. Maybe I'm done being the punchline."

Maya thought about goldfish again—swimming in circles, forgetting everything every three seconds. It would be easier that way. Instead she stood there, phone heavy in her hand, understanding something new about growing up: some moments lightning-strike brilliant, and sometimes you're the only one who sees them the same way.

She deleted the photo.

"Let's go back out," she said. "I'll tell everyone it was your idea."

Bekah's shoulders softened. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. You're the one who taught Buster to jump in ponds, anyway."

Bekah laughed, and for the first time all night, it felt real.