Bull in the Bear Suit

I never thought I'd see a guy in a bear costume riding a mechanical bull at Maya's pool party, but here we were.

"Watch THIS!" Jake yelled, the bear head lolling sideways as the mechanical bull bucked beneath him. The inflatable costume made him look like a fuzzy beer can someone had sat on.

"Dude's gonna wreck himself," said Liam, beside me. "That's literally a death wish."

I snorted. "Least he's not *actually* a bull. I saw his Insta from the rodeo club tryouts last week. Got eight seconds on a real one. Total psychopath."

The bull spun. Jake bailed, half-flopping, half-rolling into the pool with a massive splash. Water everywhere. Maya's mom was gonna lose it.

"My bear!" Maya shrieked, but she was laughing, shoving potato chips into her mouth. "That costume costs, like, eighty bucks!"

Jake surfaced, the bear head floating nearby like a drowned cartoon character. He grabbed it and waterlogged-swam to the edge. "Worth it."

"You're cleaning the pool," Maya said.

"Bet."

The bear costume was heavy now. Jake dragged himself out, dripping pool water all over the concrete, and sat next to me, dropping the bear head between his legs like a deflated trophy. He looked exhausted, but also? Kind of proud.

"You're insane," I told him.

"Carter dared me."

"Carter also dared you to eat a whole lemon last week and you literally cried."

Jake didn't say anything. He just squeezed water from the bear ear.

The sun was going down. The pool lights weren't on yet. The air smelled like chlorine and sunscreen and whatever Maya's dad was burning on the grill. And for some reason, watching Jake sit there in that ridiculous, soaking-wear bear suit, I felt something shift in my chest.

"Next time," I said, "let me try."

Jake looked at me, actually looked. His eyebrows went up.

"You?"

"Yeah, me. What, you think you're the only one who can be a total idiot in public?"

He grinned. It was a nice grin, actually. Not that I'd noticed before.

"You're on. But next party, we're getting TWO costumes."

I smiled. "Deal."

The mechanical bull kept spinning, empty now, like it was waiting for us to come back and write a better story. And honestly? I couldn't wait.