Thunder in My Throat

Maya's palms were sweating so much she could barely grip her phone. This was stupid. She was stupid. Who joins cross-country as a sophomore without ever running more than a mile in their entire life?

"You good, Maya?" Chen asked, chewing on an orange slice like it was totally normal to eat citrus before a race. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm fine," Maya lied. Her heart was doing that thing where it felt like lightning was striking repeatedly in her chest.

Everyone else on the team looked so... at home in their mismatched uniforms and worn-out sneakers. They had inside jokes and secret handshakes and probably texted each other funny memes in group chats Maya wasn't part of. Meanwhile, she was still trying to figure out which color energy drinks didn't make her feel like throwing up.

The starting gun went off.

The first half-mile was brutal. Maya's lungs burned, her legs felt like they'd been replaced with lead pipes, and she was already being lapped by freshman who looked like they should still be in middle school.

Then the sky opened up.

Lightning cracked across the sky like something out of a movie, and suddenly everyone was sprinting toward the school building. But Maya kept running. Something about the rain, the chaos, the way all the pressure of trying to fit in and be good enough just... washed away.

She ran until her chest hurt and her hair was plastered to her face and she couldn't tell if she was crying or if it was just rain.

"Yo, what are you DOING?" Chen called from the covered walkway. "Get in here!"

Maya finally stopped, hands on her knees, gasping for air. She looked up and saw them all watching—her new team, looking concerned and confused and maybe a little impressed. For the first time since she'd joined, she wasn't the nervous sophomore trying to prove herself. She was just a runner, caught in a storm, absolutely alive.

"I, uh," she panted, "I forgot my phone back at the starting line."

Someone laughed. Someone else tossed her a towel. Chen handed her another orange slice.

"You're insane," they said, grinning. "But yeah, we definitely need to add you to the group chat now."

Maya took the orange. Her palms were still sweating, but for the first time, she thought maybe—just maybe—she'd found exactly where she was supposed to be.