Running with Bull

The mechanical **bull** at the county fair looked like a death sentence, but Caleb's friends were already recording. Mateo was live-streaming, Jenna was hyping him up, and Sophia—the girl he'd been crushing on since sophomore year—was watching with that amused half-smile that made his hands sweat.

"You got this, bro!" Mateo shouted. "Show us your inner cowboy!"

Caleb climbed on, gripping the handle so tight his knuckles turned white. The operator—a guy with a mustache that definitely wasn't compensating for anything—cranked it up.

For 2.3 glorious seconds, Caleb was **running** with it. He felt like a legend, like he could definitely get Sophia's number after this. Then the bull bucked sideways, and suddenly he was airborne, landing in a heap of embarrassed limbs while his phone exploded with notifications.

He lay there, staring at the spinning sky, until something blocked his view. Sophia leaned over him, grinning.

"That was probably the most epic fail I've ever seen," she said.

Caleb groaned. "Thanks. Can I die now?"

"Nope." She dropped to sit beside him in the sawdust. "My cousin Marcos does this professionally. He says falling is part of the whole thing. You can't learn to stay on if you don't learn how to take the hit."

"Your cousin's a bull rider?"

"Yeah. He's got this whole philosophy about it." She nudged his shoulder. "He says the trick isn't being fearless. It's being scared anyway. That's what's actually brave."

Caleb stared at her, really looked at her—not just the pretty face he'd been focused on for months, but the person behind it. "You know what? That's actually... not terrible advice."

"And you should see me **bear** hug," she added randomly. "Like, world champion level. My little cousins fear me."

Caleb laughed—for real this time. "I bet."

"Wanna get some funnel cake?" she stood up and offered him a hand. "My treat. As consolation for your dignity."

He took her hand. Maybe falling off wasn't so bad if it led to moments like this. Maybe being a teenager wasn't about staying on the bull—it was about learning how to get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going. Even if your friends posted it on TikTok.