Pyramids in the Palm

Leo's hand pressed against his **palm**, sweat already gathering at 7:45 AM. Tryouts. Again. His dad's voice echoed in his head: "You're a Martinez, Leo. Martinezes play **baseball**."

The field stretched before him like a green desert, dotted with teammates who'd been swinging bats since diapers. Leo, who'd spent last summer reading about ancient Egypt and practicing card tricks in his room, squared his shoulders and walked toward the batting cage.

"Hey, Egypt-nerd!" Jason called from the pitcher's mound. "Ready to strike out again?"

Laughter rippled through the team. The social **pyramid** at Sunset Beach High had Jason at the apex, star pitcher and golden boy. Leo occupied somewhere near the bottom, wedged between the AV club kids and the ones who ate lunch in the library.

But this year would be different. This year, Leo had something up his sleeve—literally.

He stepped into the batter's box, adjusted his helmet, and waited. Jason wound up, fired a fastball. Leo swung, made contact, and watched the ball arc toward left field.

"RUN!" his coach screamed.

But Leo didn't run. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, fanning them with practiced fingers while Jason's pitch still hung in the air. The ball dropped into the glove of the left fielder as Leo executed a perfect one-handed shuffle, cards cascading like water.

"What are you DOING?" the coach yelled.

"Proving a point," Leo said, his voice steady despite his racing heart. "Baseball isn't my thing. But this is." He palmed a card, made it vanish, then reproduced it from Jason's back pocket. "And I'm pretty good at it."

Silence. Then someone whistled. "That was sick,"

Jason's mouth hung open. "How did you—"

"Trade secret." Leo grinned, finally feeling the weight in his chest lift. "But if you want, I could teach you. After practice."

His dad would be disappointed. But as Leo walked off the field, cards dancing between his fingers, he realized something important: He wasn't at the bottom of any pyramid. He'd just been building his own all along.