Electric Kool-Aid Thursdays

The gymnasium lights flickered like someone was playing with the switch, which meant Principal Henderson was about to make an announcement over the PA system. Probably another lecture about "school spirit" or whatever.

Maya pressed herself against the lockers, clutching her **orange** Gatorade like it was a lifeline. Freshman year was basically a social **pyramid** scheme, and she'd invested everything in trying to sit at the popular table during lunch. Spoiler: it wasn't working.

"Hey, Maya!"

She jumped, nearly spilling her drink. Jake stood there, grinning like he'd just won the lottery. Jake, who'd somehow managed to be both varsity quarterback AND in the school play. The social hierarchy wasn't supposed to work like that.

"Your hair's... different," he said.

Maya's hand flew to her head. "Oh yeah. Just experimenting." She'd dyed it orange last night because YouTube said it would make her "stand out." Now she stood out like a traffic cone.

"It's cool," Jake said. "Hey, me and some people are going to the football game tonight. You should come."

Her brain short-circuited like **lightning** had struck directly into her frontal lobe. Jake? Inviting HER? To a football game?

"I... I have to walk my **dog**," she blurted.

What. She didn't even have a dog. Why did her brain betray her like this?

Jake's eyebrows rose. "Oh. Cool. Maybe next time then."

He walked away, and Maya watched him go, feeling like the biggest idiot on planet Earth. But then he turned back.

"Hey, what's your dog's name?"

"Buster," she invented, because why stop digging now.

"Nice. Bring him sometime. Everyone likes dogs." Jake winked and disappeared into the crowd.

Maya stood there for a full minute, processing what had just happened. She'd rejected a invitation to hang out with the popular crowd, invented a non-existent dog, AND somehow gotten invited to bring said imaginary dog to hang out later.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her best friend: *how did it go??*

Maya typed back: *I have a dog now. His name is Buster and Jake thinks he's real. I need your help immediately.*

Sometimes, she thought, surviving high school required getting a little weird with it. And honestly? She was kind of here for it.