The Worst Best Day Ever

Marcus stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, practicing his "cool nod" for the twelfth time. Today was baseball tryouts, and if he didn't make varsity this time, his social life at Northwood High was officially dead.

"Marcus! Your dog chewed up my spinach plants again!" his mom yelled from downstairs.

Great. Just great. Barnaby—the world's most derpy golden retriever—was at it again. Marcus hurried outside, where his mom was surveying the damage to her precious garden. "Sorry," he mumbled, grabbing his backpack.

"You're taking him with you, right?"

"What? Mom, I can't bring a dog to baseball tryouts."

"He's already in the car, Marcus. Don't argue with me."

So there Marcus was, walking into the stadium with Barnaby trotting happily beside him, his fur still covered in spinach leaves. The coolest guys from school were already there—Jake, Ryan, Tyler—all warming up like they owned the place.

"Nice... spinach art on your dog, bro," Tyler called out, and everyone laughed.

Marcus's face burned. He tied Barnaby to the fence and grabbed his glove, determined to crush this. And for a while, it worked. He hit everything. His throws were perfect. Maybe this wouldn't be a disaster after all.

Then came the pop fly.

It was high. Too high. Marcus sprinted backward, eyes on the ball, and heard: "Marcus likes Emma!"

He missed the ball completely. It hit him in the forehead.

Barnaby started barking like crazy, pulling at his leash. Marcus looked over—and saw Emma herself, standing by the fence, giggling. Behind her, Tyler was filming everything on his phone.

"Wait, what?" Marcus asked, rubbing his head.

"Your sister told me you've been staring at me in bio class for three weeks," Emma said, smiling. "She said you needed a little push."

Barnaby broke free, ran straight to Emma, and sat perfectly at her feet. She knelt down and scratched his ears. "So, bio lab partner, want to get spinach smoothies after this?"

Marcus's brain short-circuited. "Did you say spinach smoothies?"

"It's this new place downtown. They're actually good, I swear."

He looked at his dog, then at Emma, then at Tyler still filming. "Yeah," Marcus said finally. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Later, as they walked away from the field, baseball forgotten, Marcus thought maybe the worst day ever had just become the best. And Barnaby? Definitely a good boy.