Pack Leader

The mascot head smelled like three years of sophomore sweat and desperation. Maya pinched the nose of the bulldog costume closed, but the odor still seeped through the faux fur like a bad secret. Behind her, the football game roared—Riverdale High versus their arch-rivals, the Northwood Bears.

"You nervous?" Liam asked, his actual dog Buster—a Golden Retriever puppy someone had snuck in—wagging his tail against Maya's leg. The team manager was supposed to be handling the mascot, but he'd "mysteriously" vanished ten minutes before halftime.

Maya adjusted the bulldog's sagging jowls. "Nah. I've got this."

She didn't have this.

The halftime show was supposed to be simple: run around, pump up the crowd, maybe do a cartwheel if the head didn't throw off her center of gravity. But then she saw him—Caleb, the varsity quarterback, making eyes at Skylar from the rival school's cheerleading squad. Skylar, who'd been her best friend since sixth grade, before she'd transferred schools and somehow morphed into someone who wore makeup to football games.

Something in Maya snapped. The bulldog was supposed to be fierce. Tenacious. That's what Coach Patterson always shouted at practice: "Be the bull! Charge through!"

She charged.

Straight past the cheerleaders, past the marching band forming the school initials, toward Caleb and Skylar. The crowd's cheers distorted inside the mascot head, sounding like ocean waves trapped in a cavern. She could barely see through the mesh eyes.

"Hey!" someone shouted as the bulldog head-butted Caleb's shoulder. Not hard—just enough to break whatever moment was happening between him and her former best friend.

The game announcer's voice boomed. "WHOA FOLKS, looks like the Riverdale bulldog has something to prove tonight!"

Then Skylar was there, in her Northwood Bears uniform, grabbing Maya's foam paw. "Maya? Is that you?"

The bulldog head slipped askew. Maya froze. Her stomach did that thing where it felt like it was trying to digest itself.

Skylar pulled off the mascot head, revealing Maya's sweaty face and mussed hair. The stadium went weirdly quiet. Then someone started clapping. Then someone else.

"That was so weirdly brave," Skylar said, grinning. "Also, you look ridiculous."

"I know," Maya said, breathless. "I just..."

"You just had to be the bull." Skylar squeezed her hand—her actual hand, not the foam paw. "I missed you, you idiot."

The mascot head sat on the grass beside them, its fierce bulldog face grinning dumbly at the crowd. Behind them, Buster the dog started barking at the Northwood Bears mascot, who'd wandered over to see what the fuss was about.

"You coming back next week?" Skylar asked. "For the game?"

Maya looked at her friend—really looked at her. "Wouldn't miss it."

The buzzer signaled halftime's end. Someone in the crowd yelled, "That's our bulldog!" and the chant spread until the whole stadium was shouting her name.

She still smelled like sophomore sweat. But somehow, it didn't matter anymore.