Padel Court Confidential

Maya dragged her feet through the hallway, feeling exactly like a **zombie** from her marathon Netflix binge the night before. Finals week had turned her brain into mush, and honestly? The walking dead had more energy.

"You look like death," Leo teased, falling into step beside her. "Rough night?"

"Rough life," Maya groaned, adjusting her backpack straps. "But I have a mission."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "A **spy** mission? Again?"

"Again," she confirmed, lowering her voice. "Liam plays **padel** every Thursday at 4. I need to know if he's single before summer starts."

"You're hopeless," Leo sighed, but he followed her anyway.

The padel courts behind the community center were Maya's weekly obsession. She'd become an expert at hiding behind the old oak tree, watching Liam laugh with his friends, his hair falling into his eyes when he served. It was pathetic, and she knew it, but this crush had been going on since September and she was running out of time.

Today was different though. Maybe it was the zombie-level exhaustion, or maybe she just didn't care anymore, but when Liam's ball sailed over the fence and landed right near her hiding spot, she didn't run.

She picked it up and walked onto the court.

"You dropped this."

Liam looked up, surprised. Then he grinned. "Maya? From AP Chem?"

"The one who almost failed the last test," she said before she could stop herself. Why did her brain have no filter?

He laughed, and it was better than watching from behind a tree. "I almost failed too. We should study together sometime."

"Yeah," Maya said, her heart doing this stupid fluttery thing. "That would be... cool."

"Cool," he agreed, then called to his friends, "Hey, anyone want to play mixed doubles? Maya's joining."

And just like that, Maya went from zombie spy to actual player. She was terrible at padel—like, embarrassingly bad—but Liam kept high-fiving her every time she made contact with the ball, and Leo was watching from the sidelines, looking equal parts proud and amused.

Later, walking home under the pink-streaked sky, Maya realized something: sometimes you had to stop hiding behind trees. Sometimes you had to walk onto the court, play terribly, and let yourself be seen.

"So," Leo nudged her. "Spy mission accomplished?"

Maya smiled, feeling properly awake for the first time all week. "Mission accomplished."