Thunder in My Pocket

Maya's fingers hovered over the screen, her iphone practically vibrating with anticipation. Three little bubbles danced in the text thread with Ethan — the guy who somehow managed to make her brain turn to static every time he looked at her during AP Bio. She'd spent forty-five minutes perfecting the casual response, only to delete it five times.

Outside, actual lightning cracked across the sky, thunder rattling her bedroom window like it was demanding attention. Meanwhile, Maya was running on two hours of sleep and three energy drinks, having spent half the night stalking his instagram and overanalyzing every single post from 2019 to present.

"Maya! Practice!" Her dad's voice floated up from downstairs. "Coach is gonna kill you if you're late again!"

She groaned, grabbing her hair tie from the nightstand. Her hair was doing that thing where it looked perfect until she actually needed it to cooperate — now it was a frizzy mess that refused to stay in a ponytail. Typical. Just like her entire existence.

Track practice was a disaster. Maya spent the entire time running (or trying to) while her legs felt like lead and her lungs may have actually filed for divorce. Across the field, she could see Ethan talking to Sarah, who had perfect hair and perfect skin and probably never deleted texts thirty-seven times before sending them.

"Yo, Maya! You good?"

She blinked. Ethan was standing there, looking all concerned and adorable and completely unfair to her cardiovascular system.

"Yeah! Totally! Just... warming down!"

"Cool." He shifted his weight. "So I was gonna ask — you going to Jordan's party Friday? Everyone's saying it's gonna be lit."

Her stomach did that thing where it forgot how to organs. "Maybe? I'd have to check..."

"You should come." He smiled, and Maya's brain short-circuited. "I mean, if you want. I heard you're like, really fast on the track. It's impressive."

He noticed. HE NOTICED.

"Thanks!" she squeaked. "I mean — yeah, I'll probably be there!"

"Cool." He started walking away, then turned back. "Oh, and Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Your hair looks good like that. The messy thing. It's... nice."

Then he walked off, leaving Maya standing there while her entire soul levitated out of her body.

Later that night, as she lay in bed replaying the moment on repeat, another storm rolled through. Lightning flashed, illuminating her stupid smile in the mirror's reflection. She grabbed her phone, typed out a response to Ethan's earlier text, and hit send without overthinking it for once.

Sometimes the best things happen when you stop running and just let yourself get caught.