Mascot Magic

Marcus walked through the hallways like a zombie, three hours of sleep and zero brain cells functioning. Junior year was absolutely killing him, and Homecoming week had turned everyone into walking dead. The pep rally was in two hours, and he was stuck inside the giant bear costume—again.

"Yo Marcus, you good?" His bestie Jen side-eyed him. "You look like you're about to pass out in there."

"I'm surviving," Marcus mumbled through the mesh mouth opening. "Barely."

The social dynamics at Northwood High were brutal. If you weren't popular, you were invisible. Marcus was usually invisible, except when they needed someone to sweat inside thirty pounds of fake fur.

But then he saw Maya—the girl he'd been lowkey crushing on since freshman year—sitting alone on the bleachers. She looked miserable. Something about seeing her unhappy made his chest feel weird.

Marcus lumbered over, the bear head bobbing with each step. "Hey. You okay?"

Maya looked up, startled. Then she actually smiled. "Honestly? No. My parents are getting divorced, and everyone keeps asking me what's wrong, and I just want to disappear."

Marcus sat beside her, forgetting how ridiculous he looked. "That sucks. I'm sorry."

"Thanks, bear boy." She laughed softly. "You know, you're the only person who's actually just listened today. Everyone else wants to fix it or make it about their drama."

"Well." Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out the vitamin C gummy his mom had forced on him that morning. "Want this? My mom says it's supposed to help with stress. No clue if it actually works, but it's cherry flavored."

Maya took it, genuinely smiling now. "Thanks. This is random, but I needed this."

"Yeah, me too."

The bear costume wasn't so bad anymore. Neither was being a zombie, honestly. Sometimes the most real moments happened when you were exhausted and awkward and wearing ridiculous things.

"Hey," Maya said. "You want to get food after this? Actual food, not gummy vitamins?"

Marcus's heart did this thing where it forgot how to beat. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

Sometimes the best days started with zero sleep and ended with a bear, a zombie vibe, and a vitamin that changed everything.