Thunder Between Us

Maya felt like a walking zombie most days anyway — AP Bio was killing her slowly, but today the exhaustion was real. She'd been running track since freshman year, mostly because her dad said colleges loved "well-rounded applicants." Whatever that meant.

"You good, Maya?" Jordan asked, flipping their snapback backward. They'd been best friend-material since seventh grade, when Jordan accidentally set off the fire alarm trying to microwave Pop-Tarts.

"Just tired," Maya panted, bent over at the edge of the track. The sky was turning that bruised purple color like someone had punched the clouds.

"The Sphinx awaits," Jordan said gravely, pointing toward the decrepit stone statue behind the bleachers. Someone had spray-painteḍ "WHAT RULS U" across its base last year. The school never bothered cleaning it off. It was where kids went when they needed to spill their guts without actually talking to anyone.

Lightning cracked the sky open like an egg, sudden and blindingly bright. Maya's heart did that thing where it forgot how to heart properly.

"We should probably go," she said, but neither of them moved.

Jordan looked at her then, really looked at her, with that expression that made Maya feel seen in a way she both loved and absolutely dreaded. "So, about homecoming..."

"You're asking me to help you ask someone to homecoming? Again?" Maya tried to make it sound like a joke, but her voice squeaked. Classic.

"What if I'm not asking for help?" Jordan's ears were turning red, which was objectively hilarious except Maya's stomach was doing literal somersaults.

Another lightning strike, closer this time. The air smelled like rain and electricity and suddenly everything was different.

"What if," Jordan continued, "I've been running around this track with you for three years waiting for the right moment, and I'm finally done waiting?"

Maya stood there, drenched in possibility while the first drops of rain began to fall. She'd spent so long convincing herself she was happy just being a good friend that she'd forgotten to notice how much more she wanted.

"The Sphinx probably has something smart to say about this," she managed, feeling weirdly brave.

"The Sphinx doesn't know anything," Jordan said, stepping closer. "But I think I might."

They ran for the school building as the sky opened up, laughing like idiots, and Maya thought maybe AP Bio could wait. Some things were more important than being well-rounded.