Market Corrections

Maya's dad stared at the TV, muttering about bear markets while she slumped on the couch, still in her track uniform. She'd placed dead last in the 400-meter dash that afternoon—again.

"It's a bear market, Maya. Everything's crashing."

"Whatever." She grabbed her backpack. "I'm going to Bella's."

"You need to learn about this stuff." His voice followed her down the hall. "What happens in the market affects everything."

Like her college fund. Like whether she could afford track camp this summer. Like why she was working extra shifts at the food court.

Outside, the humidity hit her like a wall. She started running—her warm-down cooldown, the only part of practice she actually enjoyed. Her sneakers slapped the pavement in rhythm. breathe-2-3-breathe-2-3.

She rounded the corner and saw Jeremy Chen leaning against his dad's Tesla. He was checking his phone, probably checking stocks. Jeremy had started investing at twelve. At fourteen, he'd made five grand off some crypto thing he wouldn't shut up about.

"Yo, Maya." He glanced up. "How was the meet?"

"Terrible." She kept running in place. "You?"

"Made two hundred today." He shrugged like it was nothing. "It's a bull market if you know where to look."

She stared at him. He was fifteen. They took AP History together. He forgot his homework half the time.

"Teach me."

"What?"

"Investing. Show me how it actually works." She stopped running, breathing hard. "I need to make money for track camp, and my shifts aren't cutting it."

Jeremy looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time all year. "You serious?"

"Dead serious."

"Fine." He tapped his phone. "But first—you're doing intervals wrong. Your form's trash."

She blinked. "Since when do you know about running?"

"Cross country, freshman year." He grinned. "I quit, but I still know the drills."

They spent the next hour on the asphalt: Jeremy critiquing her stride while explaining P/E ratios and market cycles. Her phone pinged—her dad, sending a link to a beginner investing app.

She smiled. Some days, the market was down. Some days, you came in last place. But sometimes—sometimes you found unexpected coaches in the strangest places.

Tomorrow, she'd open her first trading account.

Today, she had intervals to finish.