Paddle Court Stakeout

First day as a water boy at the country club and I'm already sweating through my neon polo. My cousin Marcus texts me: *Any intel on Jordan from the padel courts?* Apparently Jordan plays every Tuesday. I'm officially a spy now.

Pronounced "pad-EL" with the emphasis on the second syllable, thank you very much. I learned that the hard way when Coach Rodriguez glared at me for saying it wrong. The sport's basically tennis but with walls and shorter racquets and way more confusion.

I'm refilling the water cooler near Court 3 when I see her. Jordan's exactly like the rumors - perfectly messy bun, somehow-looking-effortless athletic tank top, focus face that could cut glass. She's playing mixed doubles with some guy who definitely didn't earn that confidence.

"Hey, Water Kid!" someone yells. I jump, splash water on my shorts. Great. Smooth.

It's Tyler from my history class, wearing a outfit that costs more than my car. "What are you doing here?"

"Working," I say, because it's the truth. "What about you?"

"My parents are members." He shrugs. "Want to hit after?"

Before I can answer with something that doesn't make me sound desperate or rude, Jordan walks over. She grabs a water bottle, doesn't even look at me, and says to Tyler, "Your backhand was tragic today."

"It was ONE bad game!"

"Three sets of bad games." She glances at me, actually sees me for the first time. "You're the water kid?"

"Name's Leo, actually."

"Leo. You ever play padel?"

"Never even heard of it until yesterday."

"Perfect." She tosses me a racquet. "Show me your swing."

So here's the thing: I play tennis. My mom played college tennis. Tennis is in my blood, apparently. Padel's different but not unrecognizable. I take the racquet, pretend like I know what I'm doing, and hit against the wall. The ball ricochets perfectly back to Jordan's waiting hand.

She raises an eyebrow. "Alright then. Tuesday, 4 PM. Don't be late, Water Boy."

Marcus's text lights up my phone: *WELL???*

I text back: *Mission accomplished. Also I think I just got invited to play.*

Some spy I turned out to be - got caught on day one. Honestly? Best summer ever.