Storm Warning

Marcus stood by the goldfish toss booth, plastic rings burning in his sweaty palms. The carny running the game looked like he'd rather be literally anywhere else, but Marcus kept trying. Three more throws, three more misses.

"You're bleeding out, bro," came a voice behind him.

Marcus spun around. Jenna. THE Jenna. varsity softball captain, owner of the best TikTok account in tenth grade, and the reason Marcus's palms were sweating in the first place. She stood there wearing that oversized denim jacket everyone was copying, holding a stuffed bear the size of a toddler.

"I wasn't trying that hard," Marcus lied, immediately regretting it.

Jenna laughed. Actually laughed. "Sure. That's why you've dropped, like, twenty bucks on plastic rings."

Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the sudden purple clouds rolling over the county fair. The carny started packing up his booth.

"Storm's coming," Marcus said, feeling stupidly obvious.

"Yeah, no kidding." Jenna shifted the bear under her arm. "Want to get out of here? My mom's picking me up by the gate."

Marcus's brain short-circuited. THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. Jenna was supposed to be untouchable, existing in a completely different social stratosphere. Now she was inviting him to walk with her? He grabbed the goldfish bag from the counter—his prize for finally sinking a ring on the last throw before the carny shut everything down.

"Sure," he managed, hoping he sounded casual.

They walked through the crowd as the first raindrops fell. People scattered toward exits and buildings. Marcus clutched his fish bag like it contained the secrets of the universe.

"Nice bear," he said, wanting to die immediately.

"My little sister wanted me to win it," Jenna said. "She's obsessed with bears. Has, like, fifty stuffed ones."

"That's... a lot of bears."

"Tell me about it." She grinned. "So, you going to name your fish?"

"Haven't thought about it."

"Lightning," she said. "Because you won it right before the storm. That's gotta mean something, right?"

Marcus looked at the tiny goldfish swimming in its bag, oblivious to the chaos around them. "Lightning the goldfish. That's actually kind of perfect."

They reached her mom's car just as the sky opened up. Thunder shook the ground. For a second, they stood there under the awning, rain creating a wall between them and everything else.

"See you Monday, Marcus," she said, and the way she said his name made him feel like lightning had struck somewhere in his chest.

"Yeah. See you Monday."

He watched her car drive away, clutching his fish and hoping the storm would never end.