The Bear in the Bathroom

My phone stared back at me — the cracked screen showing 47 unread messages in the group chat. Another Friday night alone while everyone else was at Tyler's party. The FOMO was real, y'all.

Then my phone buzzed. Incoming call from: Jordan (my best friend since kindergarten who'd been ghosting me since she joined the cheer squad).

"Maya!" Jordan's voice cracked. "I need your help. Like, right now."

I grabbed my hoodie and crept past my parents' room. Jordan lived three blocks away, but in the darkness, every shadow looked like something from a horror movie. My phone flashlight barely cut through the fog as I power-walked down the empty streets.

Jordan's front door was unlocked. I slipped inside and followed muffled sounds to the upstairs bathroom.

There she was. Sitting on the tiled floor, still wearing her cheer uniform, locked in a bathroom with a six-foot-tall grizzly bear costume head taking up half the room.

"What. The. Actual. —"

"It's the mascot!" Jordan buried her face in her hands. "I was supposed to wear it to the game tomorrow, but I borrowed it from the drama club to wear to the party as a joke, and now —" she gestures helplessly "— the zipper's stuck. I can't get it off."

The fuzzy brown bear head stared at me with its plastic friendly grin. This was the girl who'd blown me off for lunch three times this week.

"You ghosted me for three weeks," I said, leaning against the doorframe, "and now you call me at midnight because you're trapped in a bear costume?"

"I know, I know." Her voice wobbled. "I've been meaning to reach out. Everything's just — different this year. I feel like I'm drowning, Maya. Everyone expects me to be this person I'm not sure I am."

Something shifted. The perfect cheerleader facade cracked.

I sat down beside her. "Hold still."

Ten minutes of wrestling with a stubborn zipper later, the bear head flopped backward. Jordan's mascara was smudged, her hair a mess. She looked like a real person again.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Whatever." I shrugged. "Just don't make me late for curfew."

Walking home, my phone buzzed. New message from Jordan: wanna get boba tomorrow after school?

I smiled into the darkness. Sometimes the weirdest nights turn into the best ones. Even the ones with bears involved.