Three Strikes Friday

The neon lights of the football stadium flickered as I tugged at the polyester bull costume, sweating through my jersey. Literally dying inside.

"You good in there, Leo?" Jordan shouted through the mesh eye holes. "You look like you're about to pass out."

I'm fine, I mouthed, knowing full well I wasn't. Being the school mascot was supposed to be fun, not this cardio workout from hell.

Then I saw them.

Maya and Tessa by the concession stand, laughing. Like nothing had happened. Like Maya hadn't blocked me on everything two days ago.

My hands clenched into fists inside the bull hooves. Whatever.

"YO, BULL!" Someone yelled. "Give us some moves!"

I started doing the stupid dance I'd practiced in my mirror for a week, feeling ridiculous as a crowd gathered, phones out, filming everything. This was fine. Everything was fine.

Until I heard it.

"I mean, Leo's cool and all," Maya's voice carried over the noise. "but he was being so weird about that cat thing."

I froze mid-dance. The cat thing.

She'd found that stray kitten behind the gym and asked me to help catch it. We'd spent an hour chasing it through the parking lot, laughing when it scrambled up a tree and I'd had to climb up in my jeans to grab it. She'd said it was the sweetest thing ever.

Then she'd posted about "rescuing" it on her story. No mention of me. When I'd texted like, "uh, hi?", I'd been blocked.

"What cat thing?" Tessa asked.

"Oh my god, I don't even want to talk about it." Maya flipped her hair. "He was being so extra about it. Like, it's just a cat."

The bull head felt heavier. Like, actually heavier.

"You good?" Jordan asked again.

I burst out of the costume, leaving it in a heap on the sidelines. Whatever happened next could wait.

"Maya!" I shouted, marching over. "You called me EXTRA for spending an hour in a tree to help you rescue a kitten?"

Her face went red. "Leo, I—"

"And then you act like you did it alone? For real?"

People were staring. Jordan was laughing. The actual football game had stopped.

"I just—" Maya stammered. "I didn't think it mattered that much—"

"That's the problem." I turned to walk away, then stopped. "You know what? That cat deserved better."

Behind me, someone yelled, "FREEEEEEAK!" But Tessa stepped forward.

"Actually," she said, "that was kinda messed up, Maya."

I didn't wait to see what happened next. Just kept walking toward the parking lot, toward freedom, toward wherever the night took me.

My phone buzzed. Tessa: cat deserves better 💀

Me: you have no idea

Her: wanna get food? I'm buying

Me: bet

Sometimes the hardest thing isn't walking away. It's knowing when to stop looking back.