Charge of the Light Brigade

Maya's iPhone died at 2:47 PM on a Friday—literally the worst possible timing. She was supposed to DM Diego about the padel tournament tomorrow, and now she was stranded at 3% battery with a frayed charging cable that only worked if you held it at a precise 45-degree angle while standing on your left leg.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, jamming the cable into the library outlet like her life depended on it. Nothing. The little battery icon stayed stubbornly black.

"Need a charge?" A voice behind her. Diego. Of course. The universe had a personal vendetta.

Maya's brain short-circuited. "I'm good! Totally good. Just, you know, testing the outlet. For science."

"Cool." He leaned against the bookshelf, looking unfairly good in his practice jersey. "So, padel tomorrow? You're still coming to watch?"

"Oh yeah. Huge fan. Love the... padel," Maya said, having watched exactly zero matches in her life. She'd only signed up to spectate because Mia had sworn Diego was otally into her" if she showed up.

The thing was, Maya didn't know the first thing about padel. She'd been planning to Wikipedia it tonight, but now her phone was dead, her laptop was at home, and Diego was looking at her with those stupidly pretty brown eyes like he actually expected her to know what she was talking about.

"What position do you play?" he asked.

Position? Padel had positions? "All of them," she said, before her brain could stop her mouth. "I'm, like, a utility player. Very versatile."

Diego's eyebrows rose. "That's... impressive. Seeing as it's doubles."

"Right! Doubles! Obviously." Maya felt the heat creeping up her neck. "I meant I can play both sides. Left. Right. Very adaptable."

"You're bluffing," he said, grinning now.

"I am NOT bluffing. I take padel VERY seriously." Maya doubled down, because backing down now would be admitting she'd lied to impress a guy she'd barely spoken to before this week. Which she had. But he didn't know that.

"Prove it," Diego said. "Come play a set with me and Ethan after school. Right now."

Maya's soul left her body. "I can't. I have... thing."

"Thing?"

"A thing. Very important. Unavoidable."

"Maya." Diego stepped closer, and her heart did this stupid flutter thing. "You're a terrible liar."

"I'm emotionally compromised," she blurted out. "My phone died and I have anxiety and I don't know anything about padel, okay? I just wanted to talk to you and now I've dug myself into a hole and I can't get out and it's FINE, everything is FINE—"

Diego laughed. Not mean-laughed. Actual laughed. "I know you don't play padel."

Maya paused. "You... what?"

"Mia told me. She said you needed an excuse to hang out, so I suggested the tournament." He shrugged, looking suddenly shy. "I didn't think you'd actually come."

The silence stretched. Maya's brain was rebooting. "Wait. You wanted ME to come?"

"I've been trying to talk to you all semester," Diego said. "You're always on your phone. I figured this was my chance."

Maya stared at him. Then at her dead iPhone. Then back at him.

"My life is actual comedy," she said to the ceiling.

"So," Diego said, "you still coming tomorrow? Even without the bluffing?"

Maya smiled. "Yeah. I'll be there. But I'm bringing a charging cable this time."

"Deal."

Her phone was still dead. Her cable was still trash. But somehow, Maya had never felt more charged in her life.