Thunder at Bear Creek

The humidity had been building all day, the kind of thick air that makes your hair frizz no matter how much product you threateningly apply. Maya stood at the edge of the creek, water sloshing around her ankles, trying to look chill even though her heart was doing backflips.

"You coming in or what?" Tyler called from deeper in the creek. That hair-dripping, smile-flashing boy who'd been sitting behind her in bio since September.

"Yeah, just yeah," Maya stammered. Smooth. Real smooth.

Before she could wade in deeper, Copper—the gangly golden retriever belonging to Tyler's friend—burst from the trees, barking his head off. Something was wrong. The dog never barked unless it was mail carriers or that one suspicious squirrel.

Then she saw it. The black shape moving through the pines. A bear.

A legit actual bear.

"Guys," Maya said, her voice suddenly small. "Bear."

Tyler spun around. "No way."

Way. The bear huffed, stamping a massive paw. Copper, bless his chaotic heart, charged forward, barking like he'd just discovered he was actually a wolf. The bear hesitated.

Then the sky cracked open.

Lightning splintered the darkness, so bright it left spots in Maya's vision. Thunder shook the ground beneath her bare feet. The bear reared up and lumbered back into the trees, clearly deciding this drama wasn't worth his time.

"Holy SHIT," Tyler breathed, splashing over to grab Maya's arm. "Did you see that?"

Maya nodded, stunned. "Your dog is a literal hero."

"OUR dog," Tyler corrected, grinning. "And I think I might have almost died just now."

"You? You were three feet from a bear, Tyler."

"I know," he said, and then he was looking at her differently. "But you know what they say about near-death experiences."

Maya's stomach did that flip thing again. Thunder growled overhead as the first fat drops of rain began to fall, plastering her hair to her forehead. This was absolutely the worst possible moment for her first kiss, but sometimes the universe doesn't check your calendar before it changes everything.

She grabbed his hand. "Let's go before your bear decides to come back."

"Maya?" he said, pulling her closer. "Thanks for the heads-up. About everything."

She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. "Whatever, Tyler. Don't make it weird."

He laughed. Rain kept falling. The dog kept barking at nothing. And Maya decided that some disasters are exactly what you need.