First Job, First Bull

The cable truck sagged under its own rust as I smoothed down the brim of my hat, trying to look older than my sixteen years. My first real job: running cable for Mr. Henderson's pool cleaning company. So far, it meant sweating through three shirts and watching my trainer, Tyler, do all the work.

"You ready for this one, newbie?" Tyler asked, pulling up to a mansion that made my house look like a shed.

"Absolutely." I adjusted the hat again. My nervous tic.

The job seemed simple: reroute a cable that had fallen into the pool area. I was knee-deep in the water, cable wrapped around my arm like a python, when I heard it.

Snorting.

I turned to find a full-grown bull staring at me from the other side of the pool fence. Its nose ring glinted in the sun.

"Uh, Tyler?"

"What?" He was scrolling TikTok in the truck.

"There's a bull. Here. By the pool."

"Oh yeah." Tyler laughed. "The Andersons. Weird rich people, right? They keep bulls. No big deal."

No big deal? The bull was chewing something pink. A papaya. From the expensive fruit bowl on the patio table. This bull was living better than me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Mia, the girl I'd been crushing on since seventh period English. "Pool party tonight. You coming?"

I looked at the bull. I looked at the water soaking my work boots. I looked at the cable tangled around my arm like an octopus.

The bull snorted, papaya juice dripping down its chin.

Something inside me snapped. Not the bad kind. The good kind. Like suddenly seeing how ridiculous this all was.

"Hey buddy," I said to the bull. "Enjoy the papaya. I've got a party to crash."

I yanked the cable free, water splashing everywhere. My hat was crooked. My boots squished. But for the first time all summer, I didn't care about looking cool.

"Let's go, Tyler." I jumped in the truck. "Tonight's gonna be legendary."

The bull watched us drive away, still chewing his exotic fruit like he owned the world.

Maybe he did. But tonight, I'd own mine.