Padel Courts & Pyramid Schemes

The padel court felt like an oven at 2 PM, but I couldn't bail. Mia and I had been best friends since seventh grade, but ever since she made varsity, I'd been demoted to backup player – the one she hit with when her actual friends were busy.

"You're standing in the wrong spot again," she said, not unkindly, just... tired. Like she was tired of me.

I adjusted my position against the glass wall. My phone sat on the bench, its charging cable frayed at the end, exposed wires like a dead snake. Mom had promised to replace it, but we both forgot. That was us – always forgetting.

Across the court, the varsity crew sat in their pyramid of cool. Jenna at the apex, then Tyler, then everyone else falling into place like they'd practiced it. They were everything I wasn't: effortless, shiny, complete. I caught Jenna's eye – she was wearing my hoodie. The one I'd let Mia borrow last month.

The ball sailed past me. Again.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"You're good," Mia said, but she was already looking toward Jenna. "Hey, Jenna texted. They're doing a thing later. You should come."

A thing. Not "you should come with us." Just "you should come." Like I was an afterthought.

My phone buzzed on the bench. Probably my cat, Luna, reminding me it was dinner time through the pet cam app. Luna waited for me in a way nobody else did anymore – no games, no hierarchies, no pyramids you had to climb. Just unconditional, unearned, uncomplicated love.

"I think I'm good," I said.

Mia's face did that thing where she tried to look disappointed but mostly looked relieved. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Luna's probably starving."

She nodded, already turning away. "Catch you later."

She didn't catch me later. Or the day after. Or the week after. But that afternoon, walking home with my padel racket bumping against my leg, I found an electronics store and bought a new charging cable with my babysitting money. The first thing I did when I got home was text someone I'd been ignoring for months – someone who'd never once treated me like backup.

Some pyramids are worth climbing. Others are just structures waiting to collapse.