The Vitamin D Incident

Maya pulled her beanie **hat** down to her eyebrows, effectively becoming a sentient blob of navy blue fabric. First day at Northwood High, and she'd already decided: invisibility was the strategy. Her mom had forced her to take these giant **vitamin** gummies that morning, claiming they'd help with 'back-to-school stress.' Honestly, the only thing they helped with was making her burp artificial strawberry flavor all through third period.

Lunch was about to be a disaster. She scanned the cafeteria, clutching her tray like a shield, until she spotted an empty table near the back. But before she could make her escape, something chaotic came barreling toward her.

A golden retriever — an actual **dog**, in a school cafeteria — bounded through the doors, dragging a leash behind it. Chaos erupted. Someone screamed. Food trays crashed. The dog made a beeline for Maya's table and promptly sat, staring at her with soulful eyes.

'That's Buster,' a guy appeared beside her, slightly out of breath. He had messy dark **hair** that looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, and he was wearing a hoodie that had definitely seen better days. 'He's a therapy dog. Usually. Today he's just an escape artist.'

Maya's hat had somehow fallen off during the chaos, exposing her catastrophe of hair — she'd attempted bangs last night and now looked like a deranged sheep. She scrambled to pull it back on, but the guy just grinned.

'Solid bangs, man. Very brave.'

'They're terrible,' she muttered.

'They're iconic,' he corrected. 'I'm Leo, by the way. And this chaotic good boy is Buster.'

Buster chose that moment to sneeze, spraying dog snot across Maya's math textbook.

'Well,' Maya said, staring at the mess. 'There goes my invisibility strategy.'

Leo laughed, and something in her chest loosened. Maybe those vitamins really were working, or maybe it was just the absurdity of a dog named Buster sneezing on her algebra homework. Either way, Northwood High might not be so bad after all.