The Thunder Run

Maya had been running for what felt like forever. Not the physical kind—she sucked at gym class—but the emotional kind. Running from the awkward incident at lunch, where everyone heard her stomach growl loud enough to echo through the cafeteria.Tyler's laugh still rang in her ears.

Now she was hiding in the old treehouse behind the school, the one nobody used anymore. Her phone buzzed. Twenty notifications from the group chat. Great.

The sky darkened. A storm was rolling in fast, the kind that made the air feel electric. Maya watched through the cracks in the wooden planks as the first bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating everything in stark white. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

"Yo, Maya?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin. Tyler was climbing up the ladder. Of course. The one person she didn't want to see.

"Go away," she muttered.

"Nah, I came to apologize." He sat beside her on the floor. "That was messed up, laughing at you. Everyone's stomach growls. It's called being human."

Maya rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling a little. "Whatever."

Another flash of lightning, closer this time. The thunder followed immediately, shaking the treehouse floorboards.

"My mom says I have to learn to bear it," Tyler said quietly. "She says kids are gonna tease me about my stutter, and I just have to get used to it."

Maya turned to look at him. She'd never noticed before, but now that he mentioned it... he paused sometimes. Not much. Barely there.

"That's BS," Maya said. "You don't have to bear anything. People who make fun of that stuff? They're the ones with the problem."

Tyler smiled. "Yeah? Well, people who make fun of stomach growls? Same deal."

They sat there as the storm passed, watching the rain through the gaps. Maya realized she'd been running from the wrong thing. Not the embarrassment—she needed to stop running from herself.

"Wanna walk back together?" Tyler asked. "Before Mr. Henderson sends search parties?"

"Yeah," Maya said. "Let's go."

And for the first time all day, she wasn't running anymore.