Chasing the Sunset

Maya's hair was supposed to be perfect for the party. Twelve-year-old Maya had spent hours straightening it, her curls fighting back every step of the way. But when she stepped outside to meet Jake, her neighbor's cat Barnaby bolted from behind the bushes, tangling himself in her hair like he'd been waiting his whole nine lives for this moment.

"You've got to be kidding me," she groaned, trying to untangle the fur as Jake approached.

Jake chuckled. "Cat got your hair?"

Maya rolled her eyes. "Ha. Very funny. I'm running so late now, my mom is going to kill me."

They were supposed to meet up with the older kids at the creek behind Miller's farm, where everyone hung out on summer nights. But as they cut through the pasture, Maya's phone buzzed with a text from her best friend: *rain check. literally. huge storm coming.*

"Great," Maya muttered. "Now what?"

Jake pointed toward the sky, where clouds the color of old bruises were gathering fast. "We could take shelter in the old barn?"

A loud *BANG* of thunder made Maya jump. Then came the water—not rain yet, but the sky opening up all at once, dumping buckets like it'd been holding it in for weeks. They bolted for the barn, Maya's frizzing hair plastered to her face, laughing despite herself.

Inside the dusty barn, shaking water off like two drowned rats, they heard an angry *SNORT* from the shadows. A massive bull stepped into view, its nose ring glinting in the dim light.

"Bull?" Jake whispered, eyes wide. "I thought Mr. Miller only had cows."

The bull lowered its head. Maya grabbed Jake's hand. "Running. Now."

They burst out the back door, sprinting through the downpour until they reached Maya's back porch, breathless and soaked to the bone. Her mom stood there, arms crossed.

"Where have you two been?"

Maya looked at Jake—his hair plastered to his forehead, both of them dripping wet, grass-stained shoes, grinning like idiots. She started laughing and couldn't stop.

"Running from a bull," Maya choked out between laughs. "And my hair was supposed to be perfect."

Somehow, this disaster of a night was exactly what she needed.