Lightning on Court Three

Maya gripped her **iphone** so hard her knuckles turned white. Three unread messages from Jordan. The typing bubble appeared, disappeared, appeared again.

'You got this, Maya,' said Liam, her **padel** partner since freshman year. He adjusted his glasses and cracked his neck. 'Just don't overthink it.'

Easy for him to say. Jordan's last Snapchat had been captioned 'party at 8??' with a tiny question mark that felt like it mattered more than it should.

The match started. Maya's brain ran at double speed. Every return was a test. Every point felt like it determined something bigger than the score. Across the net, Alexis played like she was gunning for a scholarship—and like she knew exactly who Jordan was texting between sets.

'She's doing that **fox** thing again,' Alexis's teammate whispered loud enough to carry. 'All look, no bite.'

Maya's face burned. The comparison cut deep—her little sister called her Foxy whenever Maya dodged questions about her crushes. But this wasn't evasion. This was survival.

The sky darkened abruptly. No one else seemed to notice until the first **lightning** forked across the sky—brilliant, terrifying, followed by thunder that rattled the court fence. Play stopped. Players scattered toward the clubhouse.

Maya stayed put, her heart pounding in sync with the storm. Her phone buzzed once—Jordan's name lighting up her screen.

'i know you're at that tournament lol,' the message read. 'just wanted to say... i hope you win. also you looked really good at homecoming 👀'

Maya stood frozen as the rain began to fall, cold and sudden. The **sphinx** riddle she'd been trying to solve for months—does Jordan like me? am i reading this wrong? am i ready for whatever this is?—suddenly seemed less like a riddle and more like an invitation.

She texted back before she could overthink it: 'winning for you then'

The lightning flashed again. Maya grinned, wiped rain from her eyes, and ran for cover feeling like she'd already won something bigger than the match.