Orange Crush & The Bull

The HDMI cable dangled from Marcus's fingers like a dead snake, while everyone stared at me.

"You said you could fix it," said Jenna, whose house party I'd crashed like a total idiot. She stood there in her orange sundress looking like she belonged in a music video, and I looked like I'd never touched technology in my life.

"I got this," I lied, sweating through my black hoodie. The problem was, I had absolutely zero idea what I was doing. But when you're the new kid at Westwood High, sometimes you just say things to keep the conversation moving. Even when those things are complete bull.

Her cat—this massive fluffy jerk named Mr. Pickles—chose that exact moment to knock over an open can of orange Fanta. It splashed everywhere, including directly onto Jenna's pristine white rug.

The room went dead silent.

"Oh my GOD," someone whispered.

I scrambled for napkins while Mr. Pickles sat there, licking orange soda from his paw like he was the main character and we were all extras. Then someone started laughing. Not mean laughter—like, actually cracking up.

It was Tyler.

Tyler Miller, the guy everyone called "The Bull" because he'd apparently fought some junior last year and won. He was looming by the doorway, arms crossed, wearing his letterman jacket like armor. But instead of looking scary, he was just grinning.

"Nice hustle, new kid," Tyler said, grabbing the whole roll of paper towels and dropping down beside me. Together, we attacked the orange disaster like our lives depended on it.

Later, when the rug was sort of saved and someone finally fixed the cable situation so the movie could play, Tyler bumped my shoulder with his.

"You're good people," he said. "Hang out with us."

Jenna smiled at me from across the room, and I realized something: sometimes the night you're sure is about to become your most embarrassing memory ever? That's the night everything actually starts. Maybe being the new kid wasn't going to suck after all.

Mr. Pickles curled up on my lap and purred like he'd planned the whole thing.