Free Fishbowl by Matthew Glass

since you’re asking about commitment, and if you’re telling us the truth and you’re not going to sell, then I guess this is a good a time as any to say it …’ Kevin coughed. ‘Maybe you should recognize that. Our commitment, I mean.’
    Andrei didn’t reply.
    â€˜We both put in, Andrei. I’m not saying we contributed what you did. I’m not saying we had the idea or brought it to life. But I think, if it hadn’t been for us, I’m not sure if Fishbowll would still be in operation. There were times over the last couple of months when I think you would have gone down without us.’
    â€˜So you want me to pay you?’
    â€˜No. I’m just wondering whether we shouldn’t have some kind of … you know, some kind of a share.’
    Andrei glanced at Ben.
    Ben put up his hands. ‘First I’ve heard of it. We haven’t discussed it.’
    â€˜Dude, I’m just being honest,’ said Kevin. ‘I’ve been thinking about it. That’s what I think.’
    Andrei was silent for a moment. ‘What are you going to do about school?’ he asked.
    â€˜What are you going to do?’ replied Kevin.
    â€˜I’m going to try to get through this quarter. I’m going to try to juggle things that far. Then I’ll see.’
    â€˜What comes first?’
    Andrei picked up a napkin and took a pen out of his pocket. He listed a set of dates: 1 February, 1 March, 1 April, 1 May, 1 June. Alongside each date he listed a user number, rising to hit 10 million by the last date. ‘If we can track that growth curve, this comes first.’
    Ben smiled. ‘If you don’t hit those numbers, you’ll do more, not less.’
    Andrei pushed the napkin across the table. ‘I want to know if you guys are prepared to be in.’
    â€˜Dude, we told you we’re in,’ said Kevin. ‘What part of “in” don’t you understand?’
    â€˜Then going back to what you said before, I want you to have part of the company.’
    â€˜What company?’ said Ben.
    â€˜The company I went to the lawyer to set up. This is getting big. I agree with you, Kevin – I couldn’t have got this far without you, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that. It’s going to get more crazy, not less. We haven’t even seen the start of it.’
    â€˜So you’re saying … you want to give us a share?’
    Andrei nodded. He had no idea how he was going to manage his school work for the rest of the year, but he had no intention of selling Fishbowll, even if he could get some money for it. That wasn’t why he had built the site. He had seriously asked himself if he was the best person to build the site and he had come up with the answer that he didn’t think anyone else would understand his vision of connection the way he did. And that meant that if he wanted that vision to come to life, in all of its power and its purity, he had to keep building it. If he sold it, it would never be the Fishbowll it could be, and his vision would never be realized. Whoever bought it would prostitute it to advertising, like every other site on the net, to make as much money as they could.
    But he couldn’t do it by himself. That was something else he had decided very clearly. He had started something, and he had no idea where it was taking him. Already, after two months, Fishbowll was bigger, more diverse, more demanding – different, in almost every way – than anything he could have imagined when he began. It way too lonely to be doing this alone. He had felt that in the plane home, out of San Francisco, and he had felt it even more strongly coming back. He needed help. He needed brothers in arms, and those brothers were Ben and Kevin. He needed the way Ben listened, the way he thought. It was Ben who had come up with the idea for the Grotto, Ben who had said the things on the way to Ricker that had