Three Seconds of Memory

Maya's thumb hovered over the send button, her iPhone screen illuminating her face in the darkness of her room. The group chat was blowing up—everyone making plans for Jake's party except her. Again.

"You coming?" The text from her best friend Sierra lit up her screen, followed quickly by, "sorry if that's annoying lol just checking"

Maya stared at her goldfish, Comet, who swam in endless circles around his tiny bowl. Three seconds. That's how long goldfish memories lasted, or so the myth went. Sometimes Maya wished she could be like that—just forget the awkward moments, the times she'd been left out, the way her stomach tightened when weekend plans got made without her.

"Yeah maybe," she typed, then deleted. " probs"—deleted. The three dots appeared, disappeared, reappeared as Sierra typed something else.

The truth was, Maya and Sierra had been drifting apart since freshman year started. Sierra had joined cheer, made new friends, started wearing different clothes. Maya still wore her oversized hoodies and spent weekends drawing.

Her phone buzzed. "Jake's cousin is gonna be there btw"

Maya's palms started sweating. Jake's cousin was Marcus, who she'd had a crush on since the eighth grade dance when he'd complimented her sketchbook.

She grabbed an orange from the kitchen, peeling it frantically. Citrus spray hit her nose as she paced her room. Go. Don't go. Go. Don't go.

The orange segments stuck to her fingers as she finally typed: "i'll be there"

Her heart hammered against her ribs. What was she thinking? She'd just stand in the corner again, holding her phone like a shield, pretending to be busy while everyone else laughed and talked easily.

Comet swam to the front of his bowl, staring at her with his unblinking eye.

"You're lucky," Maya told him. "Nobody expects goldfish to be cool."

Her phone lit up again. Sierra had sent: "yesss!!! can i come over and we can get ready together??"

Maya smiled. Maybe three seconds of memory wasn't so great after all. Some things were worth holding onto. "definitely," she typed back.

The orange still stuck to her fingers, sweet and sticky. Tonight wasn't about being popular or impressing Marcus. It was about showing up—for Sierra, for herself, for whatever happened next. Some memories you make. Some you survive. All of them stay.