By Kate Niestrom

Schwinn pumped her brakes as she arrived at Century High. Her wheel bumped over the rim of the bike rack outside, spokes rattling as her frame leaned into the familiar 10-speed next to her. The pair were quiet as their teens filed into the school, leaving them behind. 

“How’d it go?” Trek finally asked. 

Schwinn sighed. “Maggie passed her driver’s test. Diane’s going to let her take the Volvo to school next semester.”

Trek’s bell rang in alarm. “Oh, Schwinn…” 

“People with cars still ride their bikes all the time, right? I’m sure we’ll still get to see each other.” 

Trek looked around at the empty rack where their friends once parked alongside them. 

“Or,” Schwinn said, “I’ll end up in the back of the garage, turning into a pile of rust like every other bike that once belonged to a teenager.” 

“Stop,” Trek said, nudging Schwinn’s handle. “That doesn’t happen to every bike.” 

Schwinn tilted towards Trek. “I’ll miss these days with you more than rides with Maggie.” 

Trek popped a spoke out of his wheel and started fiddling with his lock. 

“What are you doing?” Schwinn asked. The lock sprang free and Trek began making quick work of Schwinn’s. 

“I won’t let you end up in the garage.” 

The bikes circled the rack where they had spent years with their wheels intertwined. Maggie sat at her desk inside, blinking as she watched her Schwinn bicycle roll down the street alongside her classmate’s Trek, heading for the horizon. 

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Kate Niestrom (she/her) is a writer of speculative and contemporary fiction and a regional marketing manager. Her fiction has been published in Adelaide Literary Magazine and her non-fiction essays have been published on Thought Catalog. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.