The Bear, The Bully, and The Battery

Maya's iPhone vibrated for the third time in five minutes. Another DM from @bullseye99—the anonymous troll who'd been harassing her since she'd posted that TikTok of her dancing at homecoming.

"You're not ignoring me,"

She powered off her phone and shoved it deep in her backpack.

"What's up?" asked Kai, adjusting their glasses. "You've been checking it like crazy."

"Nothing."

They'd been best friends since seventh grade, when Kai had defended Maya against some jerks making fun of her braces. Now they were juniors, and somehow it was worse—anonymous cowards hiding behind screens instead of saying it to your face.

The hiking trail wound through pines that smelled like Christmas and secrets. Maya's dad had dropped them off at the trailhead that morning for what was supposed to be a chill day trip—just her, Kai, and absolutely no service.

Or so she'd thought.

Her phone buzzed AGAIN. Maya groaned and yanked it out.

"Whoa—" Kai grabbed her arm. "Maya. STOP."

That's when she heard it.

Snort. Huff. CRACK of a branch.

Maya froze. Fifty feet ahead, a massive black bear emerged from the brush, followed by two cubs. The sow's eyes locked onto them.

"Don't run," Kai whispered, shaking. "That's what they say. Don't. Run."

Maya's heart hammered. The bear huffed, took a step forward. She thought about @bullseye99, about how she'd let some faceless coward dictate her mood for weeks. She'd survived braces and middle school and freshman year algebra. She could handle THIS.

"Hey!" Maya shouted, waving her arms slowly, making herself big. "HEY! Go on! We're leaving!"

Kai joined in, both of them making noise, backing away slowly. The bear watched them for what felt like forever, then huffed again and herded her cubs back into the trees.

They walked backward for ten minutes before turning and practically sprinting back to the trailhead.

When Maya's dad picked them up, she finally turned her phone back on.

"You okay?" Kai asked quietly.

Maya stared at the notifications. Then she deleted TikTok.

"Yeah," she said, exhaling. "I think I finally figured out what's actually worth being scared of."