The Night Everything Went Off-Rail

Maya's pet goldfish - won from that rigged carnival game last summer - swam in endless circles inside its bowl, mirroring the pit in her stomach. Homecoming was three days away, and somehow she'd let Chloe talk her into asking Jordan to the dance. Jordan, who sat two rows behind her in pre-calc, whose laugh sounded like sunlight breaking through clouds. Maya, who could barely form complete sentences around him without her brain deciding to reboot.

Her orange tabby cat, Pumpkin, decided that exact moment to knock over the goldfish bowl. Water shattered across the floor, and the fish flopped helplessly. Maya screamed, scooping up the fish and sprinting to the bathroom. "You're literally the worst," she told the cat, who just blinked at her with zero remorse.

Friday night. Jordan had actually said yes. Now Maya was at her aunt's farm because her parents thought fresh country air would calm her nerves. Instead, she was in the barn when her aunt's massive bull decided to stage a prison break. The wooden gate splintered. The bull charged.

Maya didn't think - she just booked it, running through the cornfield with everything she had, her vintage dress catching on stalks, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The bull was surprisingly fast for something that weighed like, a literal ton. She scrambled over the fence into the neighbor's yard, heart hammering against her ribs.

"You okay?" a voice called from the porch.

Maya looked up, still catching her breath, corn silk in her hair. Jordan. From her pre-calc class. Standing there in his hoodie, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"There was a bull," she wheezed. "Long story."

He grinned. That laugh. "You're the most interesting person I've ever met."

Saturday at the dance, they danced to terrible pop songs while Jordan made bull-related puns. Her goldfish survived the bowl incident. The cat remained unrepentant. And Maya? Maya stopped running from everything she wanted.