Three Words for Grace

The plan was supposed to be foolproof. Kai had spent three days overanalyzing Grace's Instagram story — that blurry photo of her room with the caption "missing something" — and had finally decoded it. She wanted company. Specifically, his company. Possibly.

Standing outside her front door, Kai rehearsed his opening line seventeen times before actually knocking. When Grace answered, looking impossibly radiant in an oversized hoodie, his brain completely malfunctioned.

"Hey! I, uh, brought supplies?" Kai held up the plastic bag like it contained state secrets. "For the... void in your room."

Grace's laughter was better than he'd imagined. "You're so weird. Come in, my dog's losing his mind."

Her dog, a chaotic golden retriever named Barnaby, immediately detected Kai's nervous energy and decided it meant This Human Is A Toy. Kai spent the next twenty minutes on the floor, letting Barnaby use his chest as a personal trampoline while Grace scrolled through something on her phone, occasionally glancing up with this tiny smile that made his stomach do full gymnastics routines.

"So," she said, setting down her iPhone and finally sitting beside him. "What's in the mysterious bag?"

This was it. The moment. Kai reached in and pulled out the goldfish bowl. Inside, a single orange fish swam in what was probably existential confusion.

"His name is Captain Fin," Kai said, because everything sounded stupid now. "I figured... if your room was missing something... maybe it needed a fish?"

Grace stared at him. For three entire seconds, Kai contemplated faking a medical emergency and sprinting out the door. But then she started laughing — not the polite laugh she gave teachers, but real, doubled-over laughter.

"You bought me a goldfish because of an Instagram story?" she managed, wiping her eyes. "That's actually... that's really sweet. In a totally unhinged way."

She moved closer, her shoulder pressing against his. Barnaby immediately flopped across both of them, satisfied that his humans were now properly arranged. The three of them sat there, Grace showing Kai her playlist, Barnaby snoring against his leg, Captain Fin doing slow, contemplative laps in his bowl.

"Hey," Grace said softly, her phone lighting up with a notification. "Stay for dinner?"

Kai looked at the goldfish, at the dog, at the girl who somehow made his chaotic brain feel quiet. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, absolutely."