The Real Pyramid Scheme

Chloe's iphone stared at her from the cafeteria table, its screen lighting up with every snap from the popular table across the room. The pyramid scheme of high school social dynamics—literally. The cheerleaders sat at the top, then the volleyball players, then the "aesthetic" girls who always matched their socks to their Hydro Flasks. Chloe sat somewhere near the bottom with the theater kids, which was fine except when it wasn't.

Her finger hovered over Instagram when something wet nudged her ankle. A dog—like, an actual golden retriever in the middle of third period—was nose-booping her jeans. It had a service vest, but also a very un-service-dog-like grin.

"Buster!" some guy yelled, sprinting over. Miles. From her AP Bio class. Who she'd literally never heard speak. "I'm so sorry, he's technically in training but emotionally he's just a really good boy."

Chloe laughed. Actual laughed, not her fake social media laugh. "He's perfect."

Buster's tail thumped against Chloe's leg, knocking her phone off the table. They both reached for it—hands brushing—and suddenly the pyramid didn't matter. The top-tier table could keep their filtered photos and their curated lives. Chloe was sitting with a cute boy and a very good boy who'd just prioritized destroying the social hierarchy with a single tail wag.

"Hey," Miles said, not letting go of her phone. "Want to study for the Bio test together? Buster can quiz us."

"Buster knows biology?" she asked, grinning.

"He knows treats are good. That's practically metabolism, right?"

The iphone stayed face-down on the table for the rest of lunch. Chloe was too busy building something real to care about maintaining her place in someone else's pyramid.