Summer of Lightning

Marcus stood at home plate, baseball bat trembling in his hands like it was about to sprout leaves and walk away. The seniors lounged in the dugout, laughing about something that definitely involved at least one person's unfortunate dating life.

"You ready, rookie?" yelled Tyler, the varsity pitcher who'd been randomly nice to Marcus all week. Which was weird, because Tyler was basically baseball royalty at Northwood High.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Marcus squeaked, then immediately cringed. Why did his voice sound like a dying flute whenever he tried to be cool?

The sky turned that weird greenish color that meant serious weather incoming. Coach blew his whistle—practice was canceled. Everyone scattered except Tyler, who jogged over.

"Hey, my cousin's got this energy thing going on. Baseball vitamins, basically. Wanna check it out?"

Marcus followed Tyler to the parking lot where his cousin Chase had set up a whole operation. Chase was charismatic in that way that made you immediately want to give him your money. He explained the pyramid structure of his vitamin business, drawing diagrams in the air with practiced enthusiasm. Marcus nodded along, terrified they'd realize he had absolutely no clue what anyone was talking about.

"First batch's free," Chase said, pressing a bottle into Marcus's hand. "For the team's future star."

Then it happened—a lightning strike split the sky, so close it turned everything white. The thunder followed like the world's biggest fist slamming onto a table. Marcus's ears rang, his vision went spotty, and suddenly everything was different.

He wasn't the awkward freshman anymore. He was just... himself.

"Dude," Tyler laughed, clapping his shoulder. "That was insane. You good?"

Marcus looked at the vitamin bottle, then at Chase's pyramid charts, then at Tyler's genuinely concerned face. Something clicked.

"Actually," Marcus said, his voice steadier than it'd been all week, "I think I'm good. No vitamins needed."

The lightning hadn't changed him—it had just woken him up. He didn't need pyramid schemes or special supplements. He just needed to stop trying so hard.

"Wanna grab pizza instead?" Tyler asked. "Chase can pitch his vitamins to someone else."

Marcus grinned. "Pizza sounds legit."

Sometimes lightning doesn't strike twice—but once is enough to show you who you actually are.