The Orange Bear Incident

Maya's sweaty **palm** pressed against her phone case, heart doing that weird fluttery thing it always did when Jake was within a fifty-foot radius. She was currently wearing a bucket **hat** she'd bought on a TikTok trend impulse, and she was three seconds from yeeting herself into the sun.

"You good?" Marcus asked, popping up beside her with his usual chaotic energy. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm fine," Maya lied, adjusting her hat. "Just vibing."

The house party was allegedly "chill" but had already escalated to full chaos mode. Someone's phone was blasting that song that was basically everyone's entire personality last month. Jake was somewhere across the room, looking unfairly good in that effortless way that made Maya want to simultaneously scream and never show her face again.

Then she saw it.

In the corner of the living room, someone had brought a literal life-size **bear** costume. Like, a full mascot head and everything.

"Bet you fifty bucks I won't wear that," Marcus said, following her gaze.

"Marcus, no."

"Marcus, YES."

Three minutes later, Maya was somehow convinced to put on the bear head while Marcus filmed it for his story ("for the clout, Maya, obviously"). The inside smelled like middle school P.E. equipment and questionable decisions.

She stumbled around, bear-vision narrowing her worldview to a tiny rectangle, until she collided with something solid.

"Whoa, easy there, bear."

Jake's voice.

She froze. He was laughing. Not mean laughing – like, actually laughing.

"Is that Maya under there?" he asked.

She pulled off the bear head. Her hair was positively destroyed. Her face was definitely fifty shades of flushed.

"Yeah," she managed, wanting to dissolve into the floorboards. "Hi."

"That was honestly the most legendary thing I've seen all night," Jake said, and she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or –

He held out an **orange** soda. "Want one?"

Maya stood there, bear head tucked under one arm, hair a disaster, clutching an orange soda like it was her only lifeline to reality.

"Yeah," she said, finally exhaling. "Yeah, I do."

Some nights you become the bear. Some nights you get the soda. If you're lucky, you get both.