Swipe Left on the Storm

Maya's **iphone** was basically her lifeline, her third arm, her entire personality. So when she dropped it into that ravine during the worst hiking trip of freshman year, she felt like she'd literally lost a part of herself.

"It's fine," her older cousin Jake had said, barely glancing up from his own phone. "You'll survive. Character building and all that."

Character building. Right. Because staring at trees for four hours while her friends blew up her group chat with drama she couldn't see was totally character building. Emma and Tyler had apparently "accidentally" held hands at lunch. Chloe was "so done" with everyone's nonsense. And Maya? Maya was stuck watching a stray **cat** stalk something through the bushes, completely out of the loop.

The storm rolled in around dusk.

First came the wind – that weird, electric feeling that makes the hair on your arms stand up. Then the sky turned this sickly purple-green color like a bruised peach. When **lightning** finally cracked across the valley, Maya screamed.

"You good?" Jake actually looked concerned now.

"Yeah, just – that was close." But as another flash illuminated the ridge above them, Maya saw it. A massive shape, silhouetted against the sky. A **bear**.

"Jake," she whispered, "please tell me you see that too."

He did. And suddenly, her cousin who'd been surfing Instagram all day went full survival mode. He positioned himself between her and the ridge, voice steady as he explained what to do. Make yourself big. Don't run. Back away slowly.

The bear huffed, dropped to all fours, and ambled off into the gathering dark like it owned the place.

They hiked back to the car in silence, Maya's heart still hammering against her ribs. When they finally reached the parking lot, she borrowed Jake's phone to call her mom. "Can I come home? Like, now?"

Her friends' drama suddenly seemed so small. So distant. Like something happening to different people in a different lifetime.

"You okay?" Jake asked as they pulled onto the highway.

Maya looked out at the storm, at another streak of lightning painting the sky silver. "Yeah. Actually? I think I am."

Her phone was still gone. Probably swallowed by that ravine forever. But somehow, she didn't mind as much as she thought she would. Some things were more important than being in the loop.

Still though – she really needed to get a new phone before tomorrow. Emma and Tyler holding hands was a genuine catastrophe she needed to handle IRL.