Mechanical Bull Summer

Marcus stood at the edge of the pool, clutching his phone like a lifeline. The **water** glittered mockingly below, filled with half his sophomore class splashing around like they owned the place. Jordan was there, of course—looking effortlessly perfect in a swimsuit that cost more than Marcus's entire wardrobe.

"Yo, Marcus! You coming in or what?" Tyler called out, grinning that grin that meant nothing good. "Your girl's waiting."

She wasn't his girl. That was the whole problem. They'd talked exactly twice in homeroom, and Marcus had already managed to say "cool" four consecutive times like a broken record.

The papaya-eating contest had been his idea. Sort of. Tyler had dared him, and Marcus had nodded because he was tired of being the guy who never did anything. Now here he was, about to publicly humiliate himself for slices of tropical fruit he couldn't even pronounce correctly until this week.

But then he saw the mechanical **bull** in the corner of the yard, its leather saddle gleaming under string lights. Someone had paid actual money to bring embarrassment to suburban Texas.

"Watch this," Marcus heard himself saying. His mouth had disconnected from his brain again—classic.

He jogged toward the bull, **running** on pure adrenaline and questionable judgment, his snap-back **hat** already crooked from nerves. Jordan was watching now. Everyone was watching.

The operator smirked. "First time?"

"Does it show?" Marcus's voice cracked. Great.

The bull lurched beneath him, and suddenly Marcus was airborne, literally and metaphorically. He lasted 4.7 seconds before face-planting into the grass, hat flying, dignity somewhere in the stratosphere.

But Jordan was laughing—not mean laughing, but actual laughing. She helped him up, grass stains on both their knees now.

"That was," she said, "simultaneously the worst and coolest thing I've ever seen."

Marcus grinned, feeling something shift in his chest. Maybe failure wasn't the end of the world. Maybe it was just the beginning of something real.

"You should try the papaya," he said. "I hear it builds character."