Gummy Vitamins & Ghosting

Maya's hands shook as she twisted open the vitamin bottle—again. Cherry flavor, third one today. Not that she actually believed they'd fix her awkwardness, but at least she could blame the jitters on supplement-induced energy instead of the fact that Caleb was walking toward her in the hallway.

"You coming to padel tonight?" Caleb asked, leaning against her locker like he owned the school. "Jordan's bringing his new racket. It's supposed to be, like, pro-level stuff."

Maya's brain short-circuited. Padel. The sport that everyone was suddenly obsessed with because the tennis team started playing it during off-season. She'd been ghosting Jordan's group chat invitations for two weeks because the last time she'd played anything resembling sports, she'd somehow managed to hit herself in the forehead with a volleyball. In front of everyone. Live on Jordan's Instagram story.

"I might," she lied, popping another vitamin gummy. "Super busy with... stuff."

"Cool." Caleb grinned, and Maya's stomach did that thing where it forgot how to be an organ. "Anyway, I'm running to the gym to help set up. See ya."

He jogged away, and Maya watched him go, hating herself a little. What was she doing? She liked him. He'd invited her—indirectly, sure, but still—and she'd chosen safety over possibility. Again.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan: padel in 2 hrs. bring snacks or we're judging u.

Maya stared at the screen. Safe or alive? That was the question, wasn't it? She thought about all the times she'd sat on the sidelines, literally and metaphorically. The parties she'd skipped. The conversations she'd avoided. The life she was living through Instagram stories instead of making her own.

She grabbed her backpack and bolted down the hallway, running past the library, past the cafeteria, out the doors and toward the courts where she could already hear the distinctive thwack of padel balls and laughter.

"Maya!" Jordan waved from the fence. "Finally! We were about to roast your absence in the group chat."

Caleb turned around, and when he saw her, his smile was worth every terrifying second.

"Thought you couldn't make it," he said, tossing her a racket.

Maya caught it, vitamin-induced energy or just adrenaline thrumming through her veins. "Changed my mind."

She stepped onto the court, heart racing, ready to play badly, laugh about it, and actually live something instead of watching from the sidelines. Finally.