No Bull, Just Chaos

The notification pinged on my iphone right as I'm leaning against the fence, watching Tyler's older brother attempt to wrangle what has to be the most stubborn bull in Riverside County. No signal, obviously, but the reminder popped up anyway: *Your post is 23 hours old. Your engagement is down 47%.*

"You good, Maria?" Jaylen called from somewhere behind me, his voice cutting through the dust and country music that was definitely NOT my vibe. "You've been staring at that fence like it personally offended you."

"I'm good," I lied, shoving my phone deep into my back pocket. "Just taking in the... rustic aesthetic."

The truth? I was spiraling. Three hundred followers away from my next milestone, and here I was at some county fair instead of at Sophia's party, which was literally blowing up my timeline. Everyone was there. Everyone except me.

That's when the cat appeared.

Not like—appeared out of nowhere. More like it had been judging me from the hay bales this whole time. This scruffy calico with one ear that looked like it'd seen some stuff. It hopped down, trotted right up to my boots, and stared at me with those eyes that said, *drama queen, please.*

"Nice cat," said a girl walking past with actual cowgirl boots. The real deal. I was still in my Vans.

"Thanks," I said, like I had anything to do with this random cat choosing me as its emotional support human.

Then everything happened at once. Tyler's brother lost his grip on the rope. The bull decided it had HAD ENOUGH of this rodeo nonsense. People screamed. Someone yelled "CODE RED" which, what? And that scruffy calico? It BOOKED it toward the commotion like it was late for something important.

"MARIA, MOVE!" Jaylen grabbed my arm, yanking me toward the barn just as the bull thundered past, missing us by like, two feet. My heart hammered somewhere in my throat. The cat sat on a hay bale nearby, completely unfazed, looking like it saw this every Tuesday.

I pulled out my iphone on instinct. Finger hovering over record. This was CONTENT. This was the kind of chaos that broke the algorithm. But then I caught the cat's eye again.

It started grooming itself like nothing had happened. Like life wasn't about engagement rates or follower counts or being at the right parties. Like sometimes you just had to dodge a bull and pet a weird cat and call it a win.

I put my phone back in my pocket.

"You good?" Jaylen asked, breathless.

"Yeah," I said, actually smiling for real. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Wanna go get some of that fried oreo stuff?"

"Freak yes."

The cat watched us walk away, and I swear it nodded. Like it knew something I was just figuring out: the best moments don't need a filter.