Oracle Orange

The orange jersey hit me like a vibe check from the universe itself. Why did I agree to sub for Jade's mixed padel team again? Oh right, because she'd said, "It's chill, no pressure, just tap the ball around," which I now know translates to: we're playing against the undefeated seniors and you will humiliate yourself.

My first serve went directly into the net. The collective wince from spectators was audible.

"You got this, Oracle," said Kai, my partner, sweat dripping down his ridiculous curls. We'd been lab partners since freshman year, and I'd been lowkey obsessed with him since approximately five minutes after that. Kai with his easy smile and his tendency to call me by my last name like it was something cute instead of weird.

"I absolutely do not got this," I muttered, readjusting my grip on the rental racket.

The opponent across the net—some senior whose name I didn't know but whose reputation as a padel god preceded him—served. The ball came at me with scary velocity. I swung.

Connected.

The ball sailed in a perfect arc over my opponents' heads, landing exactly in the corner. Ace.

"What," I said, staring at my racket like it had personally betrayed me.

"Bear mode activated," Kai grinned, bumping my fist. "That's what I'm talking about."

We won the next three points. We won the game. We won the MATCH. The orange jersey became a talisman, a curse-breaker, the thing that transformed me from socially awkward sophomore into someone who could absolutely destroy at padel.

Afterward, sitting on the edge of the fountain near the courts, Kai handed me a lukewarm soda.

"You were insane today," he said, and something in his voice made my stomach do that awful fluttery thing.

"Goldfish memory," I said, staring at my sneakers. "In like ten minutes, everyone will forget I even played."

"Nah." He was quiet for a second. "I won't forget."

The orange jersey still smelled like the rental place's detergent and my own panic-sweat, but wearing it home, I caught my reflection in a shop window and didn't immediately hate what I saw. Maybe that was enough. Maybe that was everything.