Dog Eared Friendship

Maya's vegan phase lasted exactly three days. By day four, she was sneaking pepperoni pizza in her bathroom like it was contraband. But the spinach smoothie she'd chugged that morning? That was about to become legend.

"You got something in your teeth," Liam said, grinning like he knew exactly what.

Maya's hand flew to her mouth. Green. Everywhere. The spinach from her health-kick smoothie had declared war on her dental hygiene, and now it was basically wearing her smile like a war banner.

"Bro, you could've told me BEFORE I talked to Sarah for twenty minutes about how 'veganism changed my life.'"

Liam lost it. He was wheezing, clutching his stomach, basically dying on Maya's bedroom floor while she planned her social funeral. Sarah, the girl she'd been trying to impress for weeks, had definitely seen the spinach situation. Definitely judged it.

"That's it. I'm moving to Antarctica."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"Antarctica doesn't have WiFi. No streaming. No cable."

Maya froze. The cable. She'd promised her mom she'd fix the cable connection in the living room before her date tonight—aka, hanging out with Sarah and friends at their place while they watched that new show everyone was hyping.

"You're the worst friend ever."

"I'm the ONLY friend who would help you deactivate your vegan phase and fix the cable simultaneously," Liam said, finally sitting up. "Also, your dog ate something concerning in the backyard."

Buster. Their family's golden retriever, currently looking suspiciously pleased with himself near the garden. Maya rushed outside, Liam trailing behind her, still laughing about the spinach incident.

Buster had dug up Maya's secret stash of emergency candy bars—the ones she'd hidden because she told everyone she was 'totally done with processed sugar.' The wrappers were scattered like evidence of a crime scene.

Sarah chose that exact moment to walk by their house. She stopped. Saw the candy wrappers. Saw Buster. Saw Maya.

"I thought you were doing the whole health thing?"

Maya's brain short-circuited. "I—this isn't—Buster found—"

"Dog ate your stash?" Sarah cracked up. "Relatable. My dog ate my entire chocolate stash last month. I was devastated."

Wait. What?

"You're not... mad? About the vegan thing being fake?"

"Maya, nobody actually thought you'd stick with it." Sarah stepped closer. "But you know what IS cool? You're coming over tonight, right? My cousin has this insane cable setup and we're watching that new horror movie. The one with the dog?"

Maya looked at Liam, who was grinning like he'd planned this whole thing. The spinach in her teeth. The candy wrapper disaster. The cable she still needed to fix.

Somehow, being the world's messiest human was actually working in her favor.

"Yeah," Maya said, finally smiling. "Yeah, I'm coming."

"Good. Also, you still have spinach in your teeth."

"LITERALLY HOW ARE YOU MY BEST FRIEND."

"Because I bring you candy AND cable repair skills. You're welcome."