The Hat That Saved Me

My mom's old fishing hat sat crushed at the bottom of my backpack. I'd grabbed it on impulse before leaving, which was dumb—nobody at Jordan's party would get the aesthetic. But my hair was doing that weird frizzy thing it does when it rains, and panic does terrible things to your decision-making skills.

The house was already packed when I arrived. Music thumped through walls I could feel vibrating in my chest. Someone's HDMI cable snaked across the hallway, a tripping hazard nobody had bothered to fix. I stepped over it carefully, suddenly hyper-aware of how out of place I was. Jordan's friends were all older, cooler, better at being human than I'd ever be.

"Hey! You made it!" Jordan materialized, red solo cup in hand. "Come meet everyone."

My social battery was at 3% and dropping fast. I mumbled something about finding the bathroom and ducked into the kitchen instead. That's when I saw him—a giant, slobbering golden retriever, staring at me with what I swear was judgment in his eyes.

"You too, huh?" I whispered.

The dog woofed softly and nudged my leg with his wet nose. Something about his presence made me feel less alone. I reached into my backpack and pulled out the crushed fishing hat. Put it on. Looked at my reflection in the microwave door.

"Ridiculous," I said.

The dog wagged his tail like he disagreed.

Someone behind me laughed. "Nice hat."

I turned around. A girl with purple streaks in her hair was grinning at me, actually grinning, not那种 polite fake smile. "I'm Maya. That's Boomer, by the way. He's a good judge of character."

"Alex," I said, feeling weirdly okay with the ridiculous hat still on my head. "And yeah, Boomer seems cool."

"Wanna help me find somewhere to plug in my phone? This party needs better playlist," she said, holding up a charging cable. "And maybe tell me where you got that hat, because it's honestly iconic."

For the first time all night, I didn't feel like running home. "Deal," I said. "But you have to promise not to judge my Spotify wrapped."

Boomer followed us into the living room, and somehow, everything was going to be okay.