When the Bear Changed Everything

Maya's cross-country career consisted entirely of running away from things—mostly her problems, occasionally a particularly aggressive goose. Today she was running from the cafeteria's spinach surprise, which had earned legendary status among sophomores for its ability to survive unchanged through entire digestive systems.

She checked her iPhone 6, watching Kyle's baseball game highlights again. His swing was poetry. Meanwhile, Maya couldn't even swing her arms without hitting someone in the hallway.

"You coming to Friday's game?" Her best friend Leo appeared beside her, somehow eating his own spinach portion without visible suffering. "Kyle's pitching."

"Kyle doesn't even know I exist," Maya muttered, though they'd shared at least seven awkward encounters at the water fountain.

"Bet you twenty bucks he asks you to homecoming if you actually show up."

Friday arrived with Maya wearing her lucky flannel and dragging Leo to the baseball field. The game was tied 2-2 in the seventh when her phone buzzed. Unknown number.

"Hey, this is Kyle. You're Maya, right? Saw you at the fountain. Like your style."

Maya might have responded coolly. She definitely didn't fall off the bleachers. Probably.

Then someone screamed.

A bear—actual, legitimate black bear—waddled onto the field, presumably seeking better snack options than whatever lived in the nearby woods. The umpire shouted something about postponement. Players scattered. Parents PANICKED, because suburban parents approached nature like it was a particularly aggressive door-to-door salesman.

And Kyle Miller, pitcher and object of Maya's affections, stood frozen between home plate and the bear.

Maya didn't think. She just moved, running like the spinach monster itself was chasing her, vaulting the fence. "HEY BEAR BUDDY," she yelled at maximum volume, waving her arms. "DINNER'S CANCELLED, MY BAD."

The bear blinked. Then it turned and waddled away, apparently unimpressed with teen drama.

Maya stood there, heart hammering. Kyle stared at her like she'd just revealed she could fly.

"You just yelled at a bear," he said. "And it listened."

"I'm very persuasive when hungry."

He laughed. It sounded like sunlight. "Wanna get food? I know a place. They have great spinach dip."

Maya grinned, already knowing she'd order double.