Orange Hair Day

Marcus stared at his reflection, fingers tugging at the neon-orange strands. His hair looked like a traffic cone exploded on his head.

"Bro, that's gonna wash out, right?" his best friend Jayden asked from the doorway, phone already recording.

"Supposedly." Marcus adjusted his swim trunks. "But if not, at least I'll be visible at the swim meet tomorrow."

The neighborhood pool party was already bumping when they arrived. Marcus spotted HER immediately—Chloe, floating on a pink flamingo, laughing with her friends. His stomach did that thing where it forgot how to be a stomach.

"You gonna talk to her or just stand there being obvious?" Jayden shoved him.

Before Marcus could answer, chaos erupted. Something massive crashed through the fence.

"IS THAT A BULL?" someone screamed.

It WAS. A bull. A very confused, very real bull standing at the edge of the pool, staring at the floating flamingos like they were challenging its honor.

Everyone scrambled. Tables flipped. Drinks spilled. Girls screamed. But Marcus—orange-haired, heart-pounding, not-thinking-at-all Marcus—found himself standing between the bull and Chloe, who'd fallen off her flamingo in the chaos.

The bull huffed. Marcus's brain supplied a random fact: sphinxes asked riddles. Bulls probably didn't.

"Hey, big guy," Marcus heard himself say. "You look lost."

The bull tilted its head.

"Probably looking for the, uh, other cows? They're not here. Just us. Swimming."

The bull snorted, turned, and lumbered back through the hole in the fence.

Silence. Then Jayden: "Did you just ... SPEAK TO A BULL?"

Chloe pulled herself up, dripping wet, eyes wide. "That was the most terrifyingly brave thing I've ever seen."

Marcus touched his orange hair. His heart was still racing, but for a different reason now.

"Your hair," Chloe said, smiling. "It's ... really bold."

"Yeah." Marcus grinned, finally feeling like himself. "I guess it is."