Courtside Confidential

Maya smoothed her hands down her thrifted Nike skirt—third hand, but nobody at the country club would know. Her stomach did that nervous flip thing, like when you catch your crush watching you in math class.

"You're literally shaking," said Jada, adjusting her visor with practiced ease. "It's just padel, Maya. Not Wimbledon."

Easy for her to say. Jada had grown up with private lessons and a membership that cost more than Maya's mom made in a month. Maya was here on a "diversity scholarship"—code for: we need one kid who doesn't drive a Range Rover.

The real reason Maya had agreed to this? To get closer to Kai. Kai, who sat two rows behind her in history and sometimes drew anime characters in the margins of his notebook. Kai, whose older brother coached the junior padel team. Maya had spent the last three weeks "spying" on Kai's Instagram story like a total creep, timing her replies to appear casual but interested.

She'd even started taking those disgusting vitamin D gummies because Kai had posted about how he needed more sun. Ridiculous. She was十五, not eleven.

"Alright, new girl!" called Kai's brother, barely older than them with that effortlessly cool athletic energy. "Show us what you got."

Maya stepped onto the court, heart hammering. She'd watched YouTube tutorials until her eyes burned, practiced serves against her garage wall until neighbors complained. But this was different. This was real.

Her first serve ricocheted off the wire fence.

Someone giggled. Not Jada—she just gave Maya this tiny, almost imperceptible nod. Like: I see you trying. Don't let them get in your head.

Maya adjusted her grip. Breathed. Hit the ball cleanly this time. It sailed over the net, landing exactly where she'd aimed. Someone actually whistled.

By the time practice ended, Maya wasn't suddenly amazing or anything. But she'd held her own. And as they walked off the court, Kai fell into step beside her.

"You're actually not terrible," he said, grinning. "Want to grab smoothies next week? My treat."

Maya's phone buzzed in her pocket—her mom reminding her to take her vitamins. But Maya didn't care about the vitamins anymore. Some things are way better for you than supplements.