Bear Week Chronicles

Maya hated Spirit Week. Specifically, she hated that freshman year meant being at the bottom of the social food chain, invisible except when someone needed a target for their jokes. But this time was different—this time, she'd been recruited as the school mascot.

The bear costume smelled like three years of teenage sweat and desperation. Maya pulled the giant fuzzy head over her carefully straightened hair, adjusting the mismatched eyes. At least she could be anonymous in there.

"You going to Homecoming?" asked Liam, the junior whose locker was next to hers. He was the kind of cute that made her forget basic English.

"Probably not," she muttered, then remembered—she was inside the bear. She could say whatever she wanted. "Actually, I might."

"Cool." He adjusted his orange beanie. "I'll look for you."

Her heart did that embarrassing flutter thing. The orange beanie had been his signature since middle school, when he'd dyed his hair that color and refused to change the hat, even after the dye faded.

That evening, Maya flopped onto her bed. Barnaby, her ancient tabby cat, jumped onto her stomach and began kneading her ribs with needle-claw precision. "You understand," she told him. "Being anonymous is easier."

But the bear costume had given her something—a shield. Inside that fuzzy brown exterior, she'd spoken to Liam without tripping over her words. Without turning bright red.

Friday night, the gym thudded with bass. Maya stood near the punch bowl, wearing her vintage denim jacket over a simple dress. No costume, no mask.

"There she is," Liam said, appearing beside her. He wasn't wearing the orange hat tonight. His messy hair fell over one eye.

"Here I am."

"I knew it was you," he said, grinning. "The bear had this little wave thing. You do the same wave in bio."

Maya felt herself turning red, but for once, she didn't mind. "You noticed?"

"I notice everything about you." He held out his hand. "Wanna dance?"

Barnaby would judge her for this later. But sometimes, you had to take off the costume and let yourself be seen.