Friday Night's Walking Dead

I felt like a total zombie at Tyler's party. Like, actually undead. My phone was at 8% and my social battery was hovering somewhere in the negatives. I'd spent three hours getting ready, straightening my hair for the fourth time, only to stand in the corner of a crowded basement nursing a warm soda.

"You good, bro?" Marcus asked, sliding up beside me. He was my oldest friend, the one person who could actually read my silence.

"Just processing," I said, watching some junior from the football team spill an entire bag of chips on the carpet. "This is... a lot."

That's when Cooper's dog—a massive, confused golden retriever named Bull—came barreling down the stairs, chased by three screaming sophomores. Bull was clearly not built for basement parties. He knocked into a speaker stand, sending bass vibrating through everyone's bones, then made a beeline for me like I was the only sane human in the room.

"Bull! No!" Cooper yelled, but the dog was already pushing his wet nose against my hand, demanding attention.

I knelt down, scratching behind his ears. "Same, buddy," I whispered. "Same."

"Dude, your dog's literally the best part of this party," someone called out, and people started laughing—in a good way. Suddenly, I wasn't the awkward kid in the corner anymore. I was the person with the dog.

Marcus nudged me. "See? You're not a zombie. You just needed a wingman."

"A wingman who sheds and drools," I said, but I was smiling.

Bull lay down beside me, effectively creating a dog-shaped force field. People actually came over to pet him instead of ignoring me. I ended up talking to that cute sophomore from my English class about our teachers' weird policies. Marcus gave me this knowing look from across the room.

Later, walking home with Bull (Cooper asked me to help wrangle him), I realized something. Maybe first parties aren't about being the most popular person in the room. Maybe they're about finding your people—or your dogs—and letting that be enough.

"You're not bad company, Bull," I said.

He just looked at me like, obviously.

My phone was dead, but I felt more alive than I had all night.