Thunder Track

Maya's legs burned as she rounded the final bend, the lacrosse field blurring past her peripheral vision. Coach Daniels had been on her case all week about her 400-meter times, but honestly? Her mind was somewhere else entirely. Somewhere named Jordan, who'd sat two seats behind her in AP Bio since September and had finally noticed her existence exactly three days ago.

The sky had been threatening all afternoon, that weird greenish-gray color that made everyone's phone blow up with weather alerts. But Maya kept running, earbuds in, drowning out everything except her playlist and her own thoughts about whether Jordan's text—'u looked good today'—meant anything or if that was just how Jordan talked to everyone.

Water streamed down her face, though at first she couldn't tell if it was sweat or the first drops of rain. Then the sky opened up like someone had dumped a whole lake on the school. Maya should've turned back, should've ducked under the gym overhang with the other stragglers, but she kept running, the water soaking her shirt, her shoes squelching with every step. Because something about running in a downpour felt right—like how her insides had felt all week, messy and overwhelming and totally exposed.

Then: CRACK.

Lightning struck the old oak tree by the parking lot, so close Maya could taste ozone in the air. She froze, heart hammering for a completely different reason now. That was when she saw Jordan running toward her through the rain, jacket pulled over their head, looking absolutely ridiculous and also like the best thing Maya had ever seen.

'Maya! Are you insane?' Jordan called over the thunder. 'That was literally twenty feet away!'

Maya stood there, soaking wet, hair plastered to her face, probably looking like a mess. She felt herself grin. 'Pretty metal, right?'

Jordan stopped right in front of her, breathing hard. Then they started laughing, genuinely cracking up, both of them standing there in the middle of the storm while everyone else was smart enough to be inside.

'You're ridiculous,' Jordan said, but their eyes were doing that soft thing they sometimes did when they thought Maya wasn't paying attention.

'Me?' Maya gestured at Jordan's dripping jacket. 'You're the one who ran into a lightning storm to save me.'

Jordan's smile faltered for a second, something flickering across their face that Maya couldn't quite read. Then: 'Yeah, well.' They shrugged. 'Guess I figured someone had to keep you from getting yourself electrocuted.'

The rain kept falling. Maya's heart was still racing, and not just from the running or the close call with the lightning. Sometimes, she thought, sometimes the storm was exactly what you needed to finally say the things you'd been holding back.