Mascot Duty and Vitamin Regrets

The bear costume smelled like junior high despair and febreeze. I adjusted the giant foam head, trying to see through the mesh eye openings as the pep rally crowd roared. Somewhere out there, Jordan was warming up his pitching arm for the big game tonight, and I was stuck being Bucky the Bear because I lost a bet with my so-called friends.

"Go Bucky!" someone yelled, and I swear I heard "freak" instead of "bear."

My dog Buster had more dignity than this, and he literally chased his own tail.

After the rally, I peeled off the bear head in the locker room, hair plastered to my forehead. Jordan walked by, baseball glove on his hand, and gave me this look. Not sympathy. Just... acknowledgement.

"Nice moves, Bucky," he said.

My stomach did that stupid fluttery thing. Jordan Martinez noticed me. Even as a giant foam bear.

"Thanks," I managed, trying to sound chill instead of like I was low-key hyperventilating.

That night at home, my mom was on another health kick. "Did you take your vitamin D?" she asked, holding out the orange bottle. "Teen brains need nutrients."

"Mom, I'm literally failing geometry. A vitamin won't fix that."

"It's about holistic wellness, Maya."

I dry-swallowed the vitamin because fighting her took more energy than I had. Baseball practice sounds drifted through the open window—Jordan's team preparing for tomorrow's game. I'd never even held a baseball, but suddenly I wanted to. Wanted to be out there instead of in this bear costume, pretending to have school spirit I didn't feel.

Buster nosed my hand, and I scratched behind his ears. At least someone thought I was cool without the foam head.

Then my phone buzzed. Unknown number: "This is Jordan. From the rally. You free tomorrow? Could use someone with your energy on the field."

I stared at the screen. The bear costume was supposed to be humiliation, not opportunity. But sometimes the worst moments flip into something else entirely.

"Yeah," I texted back. "I'm free."

Tomorrow, I'd trade the bear head for a baseball cap. And maybe that vitamin would actually help, because my brain was going to need all the nutrients it could get.