The Vitamin Bull Protocol

Marcus stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at the bottle of neon-orange gummies on the counter. His mom's latest wellness phase had him taking these ridiculous horse pills every morning—supposedly packed with every vitamin known to science. He'd joked at dinner that they'd turn him into some kind of superhuman, but his sister had just rolled her eyes and muttered that he'd always be a wannabe anyway.

That was two weeks ago. Now he was actually grateful for the ritual, because it gave him something to focus on besides the knot in his stomach.

He grabbed his backpack and headed to school, where Tyler and his crew were holding court by the lockers like they owned the place. That's when Marcus saw it—Tyler's watch. The same one Marcus had been saving up for since last summer, gleaming on Tyler's wrist like a middle finger to Marcus's minimum-wage existence.

"Nice watch," Tyler said, catching Marcus staring. "My cousin works at the mall. Employee discount, you know?"

The words hit Marcus like a physical blow. He'd been running himself into the ground at Big Burger for months, skipping parties, sacrificing his social life, all for that watch. And Tyler had just... gotten one. Like it was nothing.

Marcus's phone buzzed in his pocket—his streaming cable had arrived. He'd ordered it weeks ago, back when he'd actually been excited about starting his gaming channel. Now it just sat in its box like a reminder of another thing he'd probably fail at.

But then his phone buzzed again. It was a message from Aisha, the track star who'd been watching him run after practice: "Tryouts today at 4. Don't overthink it."

He thought about the vitamins. The watch. The cable. All these things he thought mattered.

Then he thought about running—really running, lungs burning, legs pumping, everything else disappearing into the rhythm. Maybe that was the thing worth chasing.

Marcus texted back: "I'll be there."

He could hear Tyler and his friends laughing as he walked away, but for the first time, he didn't look back.