It Takes Two to Trouble

Lewis knew trouble the moment it winked at him. Still, he let Trouble wreck him behind the bleachers, let himself believe Trouble wasn’t exclusively for homecoming queens.

It was never meant to end well.

“What if it did, though?” Trouble asked the night before graduation. They’d laid out a blanket in the truck, stars bearing witness to their foolishness.

“You could come to Yale.” It was the cruelest hope Lewis could offer after two semesters of... Trouble. “With me.”

Trouble went quiet. Lewis went to Connecticut.

Two semesters later, though, there was Trouble. Winking at Lewis from across the library.

Author’s Note

This story was originally produced for the NYC Midnight 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2026.

It placed 7th in its group and advanced me to the semi-finals.

The assigned prompts were:

Genre: drama
Action: recommending
Word: wreck