Friday Night Confidence

Carlos adjusted the beat-up **hat** his dad had given him, pulling the brim low. It was his armor against the world, or at least against Madison Parker's living room full of juniors who all seemed to radiate effortless cool.

His **palm**s were sweating so much he thought they might literally drip. He wiped them on his jeans—definitely not smooth. This was it. His first real party. His older sister Jasmine had dropped him off with a warning: "Don't be weird, Carlos. Just vibe."

Easier said than done.

He'd spent the afternoon doom-scrolling through TikToks about how to be charismatic, taking a weird amount of **vitamin** C because his abuela swore it boosted confidence.Spoiler: it didn't.

The house was packed. Someone's phone was blasting that song everyone pretended to hate but secretly loved. Carlos stood near the snack table like it was his assigned post, clutching a red Solo cup like it contained the secrets to popularity instead of lukewarm soda.

Then he saw it. A **cat**. A massive, fluffy orange cat perched regally on the kitchen counter, completely unbothered by the chaos. It watched him with what looked like judgment.

"That's Carl," said a voice behind him.

Carlos turned. Madison Parker herself. THE Madison. She smiled, and Carlos felt his face do something unfortunate.

"Like Carlos?" he managed, and immediately wanted to die.

She laughed. Not the mean laugh. The real one. "Exactly like Carlos. He's basically the host. My mom's **cat**, but he thinks he owns the place."

They talked for twenty minutes. About the cat, about how weird parties actually were, about how neither of them really liked most of these people. Madison admitted she'd only invited everyone because her mom made her "socialize more."

When Jasmine picked him up, Carlos didn't even check his phone for validation from strangers online. His palms were dry. He kept the hat on, but he didn't need it to hide anymore.

Sometimes confidence wasn't about being someone else. It was about finding the other people who were just pretending too.