Serving Up Survival

I stood at the edge of the padel court, clutching my borrowed racquet like it might save me from social suicide. The fluorescent lights reflected off the enclosed glass walls, making everything feel like some weird aquarium where I was the fish about to be eaten.

"You coming in or what?" Mia called from across the court, flipping her ponytail like she owned the place. Which she kinda did—captain of the tennis team, straight A's, and somehow still managed to look perfect in neon workout gear.

I'd never played padel in my life. But when she'd invited me to "hit some balls" after school (I know, I died inside too), I wasn't about to say no. My brain was still running on three hours of sleep and three consecutive nights of binge-watching that new zombie apocalypse series. I was basically a zombie at this point.

"Yeah, just, uh, stretching," I lied, touching my toes like that would somehow make me not suck.

The game was a disaster. My serves went everywhere except the court. Mia was nice about it, but I could practically hear her judging me with every sympathetic "it's okay, you'll get it." Meanwhile, her friends kept looking over from the next court, probably wondering why the new girl was moving like she'd never used her arms before.

After what felt like forever but was probably only twenty minutes, we collapsed against the glass wall, sweating and breathless.

"Hey, you wanna come over?" Mia asked casually, like my stomach didn't just do a full gymnastics routine. "My mom's making that spinach lasagna everyone's obsessed with. And we need someone competent to help us figure out why the cable's been glitching during our shows."

I stared at her. Was this happening? The cool girl inviting me over for food and technical support?

"Yeah," I managed, trying to sound chill. "I'm pretty good with cable stuff."

"Awesome. Besides," she grinned, "we need another player for our padel tournament next weekend. And I saw your form—you've got potential, zombie-girl."

I laughed, surprising myself. Maybe the zombie apocalypse survival skills weren't just for TV after all.