The Dog Ate My Date

Maya stared at her reflection, fingers tangling in her frizzy hair. The homecoming dance was in three hours, and somehow her curls had transformed from 'effortless beach waves' to 'electrocled poodle.' She grabbed the straightening iron like a weapon.

"You look amazing, May," her best friend Jada said from the bed, scrolling TikTok. "That orange dress is fire. Literally everyone's gonna be staring."

That was exactly what Maya was afraid of. The dress — a bold tangerine she'd bought on impulse — felt way too bright for someone who usually dressed like a human shadow.

At lunch earlier, she'd been so nervous about asking Tyler to dance that she'd barely touched her food. Now, as she flossed spinach from her teeth for the third time, she caught her reflection and froze. Green flecks. In her braces. How long had she been walking around with spinach in her teeth?

"NO," she groaned. "I literally cannot. This is it. I'm staying home."

Her golden retriever, Buster, chose that exact moment to streak through the doorway, carrying something orange and familiar in his mouth. Maya's clutch.

"Buster! DROP IT!"

The chase ended with Maya tackling the dog in her strapless dress, Jada laughing so hard she fell off the bed, and the clutch contents scattered everywhere — lip gloss, tickets, and a folded note she'd been hiding for weeks.

Jada picked it up. "'Would you go to homecoming with me?' Aw, May! You were gonna ask Tyler?"

"Was," Maya muttered into the carpet. "Past tense. Because I'm obviously cursed."

Her phone buzzed. Tyler: hey, i was gonna ask u 2 dance but i got nervous. u free tonight?

Maya lifted her head from the floor, spinach-free and grinning. Sometimes the universe worked in mysterious ways. Even if it involved dog sabotage and wardrobe malfunctions.

"Jada," she said, standing up and smoothing her orange dress. "Cancel the pity party. I've got a date to catch."