The Bear in the Background

Marcus pulled his beanie hat lower, practically over his eyes. Standard operating procedure for parties where he knew exactly three people and liked approximately zero of them.

"You filming again?" Jenna asked, not looking up from her own phone.

Marcus shrugged, gripping his iphone like it was a lifeline. "Yeah. For the, uh, collage."

The collage he'd been "working on" since eighth grade. The one that definitely didn't exist.

In the corner of his frame, someone had arrived in a full-on bear costume. Not the school mascot kind—this was some ratty, thrift-store disaster with one eye hanging off and fur matted from questionable decisions. The bear head tipped sideways, surveying the kitchen party like a confused, fuzzy oracle.

Then he saw Tyler Chen, freshman class president and walking privilege essay, heading straight for the bear with that look in his eyes. The bear mask was coming off whether its wearer wanted it to or not.

Marcus's thumb hovered over record.

His hat felt stupid. His iphone felt like a shield and also a prison and he was tired of being the guy who watched life through a screen instead of actually being in it.

He pressed stop. Pocketed the phone.

And walked directly into the bear's path.

"Hey," Marcus said, voice cracking exactly once. "Nice suit."

The bear's remaining eye blinked at him. A girl's voice came from inside, muffled but defiant: "Thanks! It's my brother's old mascot costume. I'm making a statement."

"About what?"

"About how high school is essentially a zoo and we're all just pretending we know what species we are."

Marcus laughed—for real, not the polite fake one he'd been using all year. He took off his hat.

"I'm Marcus. I film everything because I'm terrified of forgetting moments but also terrified of actually being in them."

The bear head came off. Underneath: Riley from his English class, with smudged eyeliner and zero shame.

"I'm Riley," she said. "I wear ridiculous animal costumes because regular clothes feel like a costume anyway."

Tyler Chen walked past, looking between Marcus's bare head and Riley's bear suit like he'd walked into the wrong conversation.

"Whatever," Tyler muttered, disappearing toward the soda.

Marcus's iphone buzzed in his pocket—a notification he ignored.

"Wanna go outside?" Riley asked. "It's hot in this bear."

"Yeah," Marcus said, and something in his chest unlocked. "Yeah, I do."

His phone stayed in his pocket all night. Some moments don't need documenting, he realized. Some moments just need living.