Mascot Mishap

Maya's first mistake was letting Jenny talk her into being the school mascot. Her second mistake was thinking she could pull off the bear head without her forehead sweating through the mesh.

"You got this, bear!" Jenny called from the cheerleading line, which was honestly rich considering Jenny wasn't the one stuffed inside twenty pounds of fake fur during an unseasonably warm September football game.

The bear costume smelled like every previous wearer's regret and middle school boys' locker room. Maya adjusted the head for the fiftieth time and tried to find her squad pride. It was there, somewhere, buried under layers of social anxiety and the crushing awareness that someone from her AP Bio class was definitely watching her make awkward paw gestures.

Then it happened. Someone's dog—a chaotic, absolutely unhinged golden retriever—slipped its leash and sprinted onto the field like it had personal business with the opposing team's quarterback.

"BEAR!" someone screamed, because naturally, between the confused mascot and the loose canine, the crowd needed something to yell.

Maya's brain short-circuited. Was she the bear? Was the dog the bear? Was she supposed to bear down and handle this situation? She froze as the retriever skidded to a halt in front of her, tail going a hundred miles an minute like this was exactly the friendship moment it had been waiting for.

The dog jumped. Maya stumbled backward. The bear head slipped.

Her face pressed against the mesh as she went down hard, the mascot head rolling away like a rejected melon. Through the awkward haze of humiliation, she looked up to see someone—a girl from her English class, the one who always sat in back and drew monsters in her notebook—grabbing the dog's collar.

"I'm so sorry," the girl said, but she was grinning like this was the best thing that had happened since someone accidentally set the science lab fire alarm off last year. "Cujo here really loves mascots. It's his thing."

Cuwo licked Maya's exposed face. The crowd went wild. Someone started chanting "BEAR DOWN!" like they hadn't just watched a freshman get taken out by a friendly golden retriever.

"I'm Alex," the girl said, helping Maya up while somehow managing to hold onto the dog. "Wanna get out of here? I know where the vending machines don't check for fake bear claws."

Maya looked at her abandoned mascot head, at Jenny shrugging philosophically from the sidelines, at Alex's conspiratorial grin.

"Yes," Maya said. "A thousand times yes."

Sometimes, she learned later, the worst moments make the best stories. And sometimes a dog and a failed mascot moment introduce you to your first real friend.