The Orange Tabby Incident

Marcus's first real shift at Purrfect Brew Café was supposed to be chill. Just serve lattes, ignore the cats sleeping everywhere, maybe actually talk to Skylar — the barista with the perfect waves and smile that made his brain short-circuit.

Then Mango happened.

Mango was an orange tabby who clearly missed the memo about being a relaxed café cat. While Marcus was trying to look casual leaning against the counter (pro tip: he wasn't), Mango decided the water pitcher sitting on the edge was personal.

"Bro, watch out!" someone yelled, but too late.

The cat launched himself like a fuzzy orange missile. Water crashed everywhere. Soaked Marcus's apron, his shirt, his dignity. The whole café went dead silent. Skylar stared. Marcus wanted to evaporate.

But then Mango started shaking himself off like a wet dog, spraying everyone within splash radius. The entire room burst out laughing. Even Skylar.

"Smooth," she said, sliding him a towel. "First time he's done that this week."

Marcus's face burned. "I'm literally the most embarrassing person alive."

"Nah." Skylar grinned. "Last week? He knocked a whole tray of matcha lattes into some guy's lap. That was EPIC fail. You're fine."

She helped him clean up the mess. They talked about music, about how working at a cat café wasn't as aesthetic as Instagram made it look, about how Marcus had only applied because his mom said he needed "real world experience." Whatever that meant.

By the time his shift ended, Marcus was exhausted, still damp, and had Skylar's number in his phone. Mango was asleep on his backpack like nothing happened.

"See you tomorrow," Skylar called. "Maybe wear something waterproof."

Marcus walked home grinning like an idiot. Being a teenager was weird. One minute you're dying of embarrassment, the next you're texting your crush about orange cats. Not exactly how he imagined it going, but honestly? Way better.