Cowboy Hats & Coconut Oil

Maya stood in front of her bathroom mirror, gingerly touching the fried ends of her once-pristine curls. Third period PE humidity had officially ruined everything. Her phone buzzed on the counter — Instagram story from Jessica: perfect beach waves, captioned "casual Friday lol."

"Casual my ass," Maya muttered. Jessica had probably spent forty minutes and three different hair products achieving that look.

"You need to take that vitamin D supplement, honey."

Her mom's voice drifted through the door. Maya rolled her eyes so hard it practically hurt. Her mom had gone full wellness influencer since starting her new MLM — essential oils, jade eggs, and now a questionable line of "herbal vitamins" that definitely weren't FDA approved.

"I'm fine, Mom!"

"Your split ends say otherwise. You're what you eat."

Maya grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. The last thing she needed was another lecture about gut health from someone who literally drank chlorophyll water like it was Starbucks.

She stopped short. There, blocking the sidewalk, was the most enormous bull she'd ever seen. Like, actual cow-bull, horns and everything. And standing next to it, holding a rope halter like it was a golden retriever, was Cody from her history class.

Cody, who wore boots every day. Cody, who sat in the back and never spoke. Cody, who was currently having a conversation with this massive animal like they were best friends.

"Uh," Maya said eloquently.

Cody looked up, unbothered. "Hey. This is Bubba. He kinda escaped his fence again."

"Kinda?"

"Yeah. He's chill though. You wanna pet him?"

Maya's hair was still frizzy. Her mom was probably inside drafting a wellness plan for her. Instagram was waiting to remind her how inadequate her hair game was.

"Sure," Maya heard herself say.

Bubba's nose was surprisingly soft, warm and velvet-like. Cody watched her like he expected her to bolt any second.

"You got nice hair," he said suddenly, like it was a normal thing to say to someone you'd never actually spoken to before.

Maya laughed. "Dude, have you seen it? It's a disaster."

"Nah." Cody shrugged. "It's got character. My sister straightens hers every day and it looks... I dunno. Fake. Yours looks real."

Something in her chest loosened. Just a little.

"Thanks."

"Yeah. Also, fair warning — my mom sells these hair vitamins? She's gonna try to recruit you if she sees you."

Maya snorted. "Oh my god, same."

Cody grinned, and it transformed his whole face. "Small world. Hey, you wanna help me walk him back?"

"To walk the... bull."

"Yeah. Bubba. He likes snacks. I got carrots in my pocket."

Maya's day had started with humidity-induced hair disaster and a multilevel marketing lecture. Now she was walking an escaped bull down the suburban sidewalk with a cowboy, carrot bribing involved like this was totally normal behavior.

And her hair? Still frizzy. Still perfect.