Three Seconds of Glory

Marcus stood by the corral fence, his heart hammering like a bass drop at homecoming. The dusty arena air smelled like adrenaline and regret. This was NOT how he'd planned to spend his Saturday.

"Dude, you got this," Jaden said, slapping his back. His best friend had been talking him into this stupid junior rodeo challenge for weeks. "Just eight seconds on that mechanical bull. Easy W."

Marcus adjusted the ridiculous cowboy hat his cousin had lent him. It was two sizes too big and kept sliding over his eyes. The thing smelled like something that had been stored in an attic since the nineties.

"What if I eat it?" Marcus muttered, gesturing toward the spin cycle machine currently tossing some poor kid around like a ragdoll.

"Then you eat it with style." Jaden handed him a bottle of water. Marcus's hands were shaking so bad he nearly dropped it. "Besides, Maya's watching. You said you wanted to talk to her, right? Well, now you'll have something to talk about."

Maya. The reason Marcus was even considering this humiliation. She stood by the concession stand with her friends, wearing that oversized jacket she always wore, laughing at something. Of course she'd be here. The universe had terrible timing.

A loud buzzer sounded. The kid on the bull flew off into the padding, earning respectful applause from the crowd. Marcus's stomach did something uncomfortable.

He'd had spinach and artichoke dip for lunch. Why was that relevant? Because he'd checked his teeth in the bathroom mirror five times, and there was STILL that lingering paranoia that green bits were decorating his smile like confetti. Nothing says attractive like "hey, I have vegetation in my teeth."

"Next up, Marcus Chen!" the announcer's voice boomed. "Let's see what you got, son!"

The crowd cheered. People he'd gone to middle school with, people he'd never met, his crush, her friends—all watching. All waiting.

Marcus climbed onto the mechanical bull, gripping the handle with both hands. The operator winked at him. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Marcus lied.

The machine lurched. His entire body whipped backward, then forward. The hat flew off his head and landed in the dirt. Somewhere, Jaden was screaming something unintelligible. The bull spun, bucked, and threw him sideways.

Three seconds. That was it. He lasted THREE pathetic seconds before sliding off into the safety padding.

But as he lay there, staring up at the perfect blue sky, breathless and dizzy, he heard laughter—not mean laughter, but genuine, delighted laughter. He looked over to see Maya doubled over, not mocking him, but honestly cracking up. She walked over, still grinning.

"That was maybe the funniest thing I've ever seen," she said, extending a hand to help him up. "You okay?"

Marcus grabbed her hand. "Never better."

"Good." She handed him his dusty hat. "Because you're definitely doing that again."

Marcus looked at the bull, then at Jaden giving him a thumbs up, then at Maya still smiling at him like he'd actually done something cool.

"Yeah," he said, putting the hat back on. "Yeah, I think I am."