Fox in the Chicken Coop

Marcus stood outside the 7-Eleven, nursing his third slushie brain freeze of the week. His friend Ty had been ghosting him since lunch, which was weird because they'd been glued at the hip since sixth grade.

"You're being a baby about this," Maya said, appearing beside him with her own cherry slushie. "He's probably just busy with his girlfriend. You know how it is."

Marcus did NOT know how it was. He'd never had a girlfriend. He'd never even had a proper almost-girlfriend. The closest he'd come was that time Sarah laughed at his joke in math, which turned out to be because she was laughing at his hair, not with it.

"Whatever," Marcus said. "It's just... he used to tell me everything. Now he's got all these secrets."

"That's growing up, bro." Maya punched his shoulder. "People change. You change. Remember when you wanted to be a bull rider?"

"I was seven."

"Exactly. People evolve." She gestured down the street. "Speaking of evolution, check out the new girl."

A girl walked past with the most incredible hair Marcus had ever seen—curly, wild, everywhere. She looked like she didn't care what anyone thought. A calico cat wound around her legs, which was confusing because this was the middle of downtown and people didn't just walk around with pet cats.

"That's Skye," Maya whispered. "Transferred from Oregon. Apparently she's super chill."

Skye caught them looking. Instead of looking away embarrassed, she smiled and walked over.

"Hey," she said. "This is Bean."

The cat blinked at Marcus.

"I'm Marcus."

"Cool." She shifted her backpack. "You're Ty's friend, right? The one he's always talking about?"

Marcus's stomach did this weird thing. "He talks about me?"

"All the time. He thinks you're smart but scared to take risks." She grinned. "His words, not mine. But I've seen your drawings in math class. You're actually insane at art."

Marcus felt his face heating up. Nobody was supposed to know about those.

"I could show you this abandoned warehouse downtown," Skye continued. "Some friends and I are doing a mural there. We need someone with actual skills."

"Like graffiti?"

"Like ART. There's a difference." Bean the cat jumped onto her shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world. "So? You in or are you gonna keep letting your fear call the shots?"

Marcus looked at Maya, who was smirking.

"Go," Maya said. "I'll tell Ty you found better friends."

"He's still my friend," Marcus protested, but weaker than before.

"Then prove it." Skye's eyes were bright, challenging. "Be who you actually are. Trust me—it's way more fun than pretending to be someone you're not."

Marcus thought about Ty, who used to be fearless until he started caring what people thought. He thought about his sketchbook hidden under his bed, filled with drawings he'd never shown anyone.

"Okay," Marcus said. "Show me this warehouse."

Skye's grin widened. "Smart choice. And Marcus?"

"Yeah?"

"Glad you finally decided to stop playing it safe. Life's too short for that BS."

As they walked away, Maya called after them, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Which, knowing Maya, left approximately zero things off the table. Marcus found himself grinning. For the first time in forever, something actually felt right.