Picture your worst possible day ever: you oversleep, get into a fender-bender on the way to school, only

to find out there’s a test you didn’t know about during first period, it’s all downhill from there, etc.—terrible, right? Now, picture the same day again, but you have a cute little drink in the cup-holder. Boom, instantly better.

After much time, reflection, and intense scientific research, I have turned a vague hypothesis into a concrete, empirical, fundamental theory that applies to literally every person on the planet: The Cute Little Drink Theory. The Cute Little Drink Theory states that every person’s life is made observably better by the presence of a cute little drink, which can accompany a meal, activity, or an entire day; a cute little drink is a beverage that you don’t drink out of necessity or regularity, but as a special treat. (As such, I feel that water can only be a cute little drink if you don’t drink it often or enough, in which case it is a treat to you and your constant state of dehydration.)

Once a beverage becomes a cute little drink, it becomes more than a beverage—”It becomes an accessory, an ally, a way of life,” senior Trista Verne confirms. The cute little drink has a magical way of making its sipper feel more put together, comforted, and luxurious all at once. This uplifting effect is magnified when the cute little drink is held in a cute little tumbler or cup—the “cute little” effect can increase exponentially in these conditions.

No experiment conducted under the Scientific Method is complete without evidence, so I turned to a few Royals to collect data on their experience with the Cute Little Drink Theory:

Senior Adriana Arroyo, one of the biggest believers in the Cute Little Drink Theory, lives the truth of the cute little drink every single day: “I must start every single morning with some kind of cute fancy beverage, whether it’s self-made matcha or the Starbucks I spend gross amounts of money on. I could be grimy, covered in mud, rancid, and still give Bella Hadid/Hailey Bieber as long as I have a cute little drink in my hand. It ties my outfit together, it boosts my serotonin, and makes me feel luxurious.”

This cute little drink can look different to everyone, as long as it contains that cute little drink essence—for senior Emma Silva, her cute little drink is neither aesthetically cute nor little: “My day literally must start with a gallon of Diet Coke. Oh, I have a cut? It’s bleeding Diet Coke. I may not look put together, but if I have a Diet Coke in hand, I’m feeling like the most organized, powerful woman since Hilary Clinton—especially since I got a Stanley cup for Christmas. Now, when I walk down the halls with my Stanley of Diet Coke, I give off so much it-girl energy, people think I’m Lily-Rose Depp.”

The beauty of cute little drinks is their total customizability, a virtue that allows all to enjoy their own,

special cute little drink. Mrs. Barclay takes full advantage of this feature, tailoring her cute little drink exactly to her preference: “For my cute little drink, I steep a mix of peach and mint tea, intermittently adding splashes of cool and hot water to keep the temp nice. I’ll finish it off with a splash of DIET lemonade—not regular, not low-sugar, diet. If it’s chilly out, I might add a splash of honey. This tea is the ultimate daily treat; if the store is out of my specific diet lemonade, I’m calling the manufacturer and getting a palette of them sent to my grocery store with an apology.”

Me personally? My cute little drink of choice is either Mango Madness Snapple in my cute Starbucks tumbler, or a Starbucks Mango Dragonfruit Refresher with lemonade. The Cute Little Drink Effect is just one quick, infallible way to make life a little better, so I highly encourage all of you to treat yourself to your cute little drink as much as possible, and feel free to comment your cute little drink preference!