Ace Without the Hat

Jamie's backward baseball cap was basically fused to their head at this point. Three months at Lincoln High, and the hat was still their security blanket—like, if they couldn't see people judging them, maybe people weren't judging them, right? Total logic.

"You gonna wear that thing to graduation too?" Maya asked at lunch, nodding at the navy blue cap.

Jamie shrugged. "Maybe. It's a vibe."

"It's a wall, Jamie. You're literally hiding."

Before Jamie could defend their fashion choice, Tyler slid into the seat across from them. "We need a fourth for padel after school. You in?"

Padel. That fancy racquet sport all the cool kids played at the country club. Jamie's stomach dropped. "Oh, uh, I'm not really—"

"Come on, it's just tennis meets squash. You'll be fine," Tyler said, already pulling out his phone to add Jamie to the group chat. "Practice starts at 4. Don't be late."

"I've literally never held a racquet in my life," Jamie hissed at Maya when Tyler left.

"So? You used to play tennis in seventh grade. And you've got that old running watch—" she pointed at the fitness tracker on Jamie's wrist "—so you're basically athletic."

That was doing a lot of heavy lifting for someone whose main exercise was walking to the fridge.

By 3:55, Jamie was standing at the padel courts, heart racing, gripping a borrowed racquet like it might detonate. The court looked smaller than tennis courts, with glass walls enclosing everything. Tyler and two other friends were already warming up, hitting balls back and forth with casual ease.

"Jamie! Finally!" Tyler waved them over. "We're doing doubles—you and me versus Lena and Marcus."

The first five minutes were a disaster. Jamie missed every ball, tripped over their own feet twice, and accidentally whacked the glass wall with the racquet. The hat kept sliding down over their eyes.

"Whoa there, killer!" Tyler laughed, trotting over. "You're thinking too hard. Just—"

He tossed the ball to Jamie. "Hit it back to me. Don't aim, don't plan, just swing."

Jamie adjusted the hat, took a breath, and swung.

The ball cracked off the racquet, sailed past Tyler's outstretched arm, and smashed into the back glass wall.

"Okay, that was actually kinda fire," Lena called from the other side.

"Do it again!" Tyler grinned.

Something clicked. For the next hour, Jamie stopped overthinking, stopped hiding behind the hat, just played. They weren't amazing, but they weren't terrible either. The running watch on Jamie's wrist buzzed every time they sprinted across the court, but for once, they didn't care about the numbers or who was watching.

"Not bad for a rookie," Tyler said afterward as they all grabbed smoothies. "You've got a natural kill shot."

"Still can't believe you've never played," Maya added, bumping Jamie's shoulder. "And you finally took off the hat."

Jamie paused, reaching up to touch bare hair. They hadn't even noticed.

"Huh," they said, smiling. "Guess I didn't need it after all."