Fish Out of Water

The country club smelled like money and chlorine, and I was definitely neither. My cousin Chloe had talked me into trying out for the junior padel tournament, mostly because she needed a partner who wouldn't completely embarrass her socially.

"You'll be fine," she'd said, handing me a racquet that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. "Just hit the ball. Don't overthink it."

Easy for her to say. Chloe was effortlessly cool, with the kind of hair that behaved itself in humidity and a natural athletic ability that made everything look easy. I was the kid who'd once gotten a concussion from walking into a sliding glass door.

My palms were already sweating like crazy, leaving actual water droplets on the expensive grip. Across the court, I saw him—Tyler, from my AP Bio class, looking unfairly good in his polo shirt and actually knowing what he was doing.

"You ready?" Tyler called, grinning.

"Totally," I lied, my voice cracking like I was still twelve.

The game started. I missed the first three serves spectacularly. The fourth one I actually hit, but it sailed straight into the nearby decorative pond with a disappointing splash.

"My bad," I muttered, face burning.

Afterward, I sat on the edge of that same pond, watching the water ripple in the breeze. A single goldfish—the only survivor of some country club resident's abandoned pet project—surfaced near my feet, staring at me with what looked like judgment in its bulbous eyes.

"You think you could do better?" I asked it. "At least you don't have to worry about looking like an idiot in front of your crush."

The goldfish just opened and closed its mouth, probably plotting my social demise.

"Hey," said a voice behind me.

I jumped. Tyler stood there, holding my phone. "You left this on the bench."

"Thanks."

"You know," he said, sitting beside me, "I was terrible at padel when I started. Last year, I hit myself in the face with my own racquet."

"Really?"

"Straight in the nose. Bled everywhere. It was humiliating." He grinned. "You want to practice sometime? Like, actually practice, not pretend we know what we're doing?"

The goldfish chose that moment to splash water directly at us. We both laughed, and for the first time all day, my hands were finally dry.