Fox Mode Activated

Maya stared at her **iPhone**, thumb hovering over Instagram. Another weekend watching everyone else live their best lives while she lay in bed, scrolling through highlight reels that felt like personal attacks.

"You good, sis?" Her mom's voice drifted through the door. "I got you that **vitamin** water you like."

"I'm fine," Maya lied, like she did every Friday night since freshman year. Since Kai moved away.

She grabbed the neon pink bottle and slipped out the window. The **water** tasted like artificial strawberry and missed opportunities, but she chugged it anyway. The park was empty at midnight, which was exactly why she loved it. No fake smiles required.

That's when she saw it—a **fox**. Orange fur glowing under the streetlamp, eyes locked on hers like it knew something she didn't.

Maya froze. The fox tilted its head, then bolted toward the woods, looking back once like, *you coming?*

Something in her snapped.

She followed.

Through brambles and mud, past her old elementary school, until they reached the creek. The fox stood on a rock, tail flicking, watching Maya stand there in her white converse—ruined now, honestly worth it.

"You're literally my only **friend** right now," she whispered. "Even though you're a wild animal and could literally bite me."

The fox's ear twitched.

A notification lit up Maya's phone. Party at Jace's. Everyone going. DM for address.

She'd spent three years waiting for invitations like this. But tonight, the fox was watching. The water in the creek was moving, never stopping, not caring who saw it.

Maya typed *can't make it* and put her phone in her pocket.

"Fox mode," she said to nothing. "From now on, I'm doing me."

The fox dipped its head like it approved.

Her shoes were destroyed. Her mom would kill her. She'd missed the party of the year.

But for the first time since eighth grade, Maya didn't feel like she was waiting for something to happen. She was already here.