Riddles Under the Palm

Jordan's lucky hat blew off first period, spiraling toward the cafeteria ceiling like a rejected frisbee. Someone catcalled, "Nice hair, Jackson!" and suddenly the whole lunch table was laughing. Jordan yanked their hood up, palms sweating against their phone case.

"Bro, you good?" Marcus asked, already scrolling through his padel bracket app. "Tryouts are tomorrow. You're not gonna bail, right?"

"Not bailing," Jordan said, though their stomach did that familiar flip-tumble thing. Padel was supposed to be *their* sport this year — something that wasn't tennis (too country club) or basketball (too tall kids everywhere). Something fresh.

But tryouts meant the A-crowd watching. Meant Riley with the perfect backhand and the casual ease of someone who'd never had a single public hair disaster. Meant potentially embarrassing themselves in front of *everyone*.

That afternoon, the sky turned that weird green-gray color that meant either tornado or just a really bad storm. Jordan walked to the courts anyway, practice racket bouncing against their leg. The wind had picked up, palm trees along the neighborhood entrance swaying like drunk dancers.

Lightning cracked — not the distant kind, but the immediate, heart-stopping slam that made you flinch. Rain started falling sideways.

"You coming?" Riley stood under the court overhang, already swinging their racket like they were testing balance. Something about the way Riley stood there, loose and confident, made Jordan's chest tight.

"In this?" Jordan gestured at the downpour.

"Practice waits for no weather, little sphinx." Riley flashed that annoyingly charming grin. "You gonna let a little rain scare you off? Or are you actually trying out tomorrow?"

The nickname hit weirdly. *Sphinx.* Like Jordan was some kind of mystery instead of just — anxious. Overthinking. Not brave enough for big moments.

Jordan stepped into the rain. The hat was already ruined anyway. Might as well get soaked doing something that mattered.

"Watch this," Jordan said, and swung at nothing but air and raindrops. But they kept swinging, heart thundering, palms slick on the grip, not caring how ridiculous they looked. Sometimes bravery was just showing up when you'd rather hide.

Riley's answering smile was real. "Tomorrow's gonna be sick."

Jordan nodded. Maybe it would be. Maybe they'd crash and burn. But at least they'd stopped hiding.