Orange Lightning in My Sneakers

I was literally running for my life — okay, maybe not my ACTUAL life, but definitely my social life. Freshman year, and I'd just accidentally liked a photo from 2016 on Maya's Instagram while stalking her profile. We're talking ancient history braces-era Maya. I needed to disappear ASAP.

The cross country team was doing laps around the school when I spotted those orange Nike Blazers everyone had been hyping on TikTok. Same exact pair I'd been begging my mom for for weeks. But these weren't just sitting there looking cool — they were absolutely FLYING.

That's when I noticed it was HIM. Carter from my English class. The one who sat in the back and always had the right answers but never spoke. He was running like he was chasing something, or maybe running FROM something. His form was terrible, arms everywhere, but he was FAST. Like, actually concerning fast.

A crack of lightning split the sky — purple-white electric spider webs across the clouds. Coach yelled for everyone to get inside, but Carter didn't stop. Just kept running, harder now, like the storm was fueling him.

I found myself following. Not even thinking about it. My cheap off-brand sneakers slapped against the wet pavement. Rain started coming down, sideways and cold.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL RUNNING?" I shouted over the thunder.

He didn't answer. Just pointed ahead.

I looked where he was pointing. An orange tabby cat, frozen on the sidewalk, absolutely TERRIFIED. Carter wasn't running away from anything. He was running TO something.

We got there at the same time. He scooped up the cat, still purring somehow despite the chaos, and we sprinted for the covered walkway outside the gym.

"That's Mango," he said, out of breath but grinning. "He belongs to the librarian. He's ALWAYS getting out."

I stood there dripping wet, hair plastered to my forehead, probably looking like a mess, and started laughing. Couldn't stop. Carter laughed too.

"You're the one who liked my braces photo," he said. "Maya told me."

I froze. My social life was officially OVER.

"It's cool," he added. "I think it's kind of cute that you were lurking that deep."

Maybe freshman year wasn't going to be so bad after all.