Smashed It
Maya's palms were sweating so much they were practically sliding off her padel racquet. Great. Just great.
"You good, Maya?" Chen asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet like he'd had three espressos instead of whatever his mom packed in his lunchbox.
"Totally good," Maya lied. "Just vibing."
She was not vibing. She was lowkey freaking out. This was tryouts for the varsity padel team, and she'd spent the entire summer running drills in her backyard until her neighbor Mrs. Patterson yelled at her for "all that blasted thumping" at 8 PM. Padel, because apparently tennis wasn't enough of a thing anymore.
Coach Rodriguez blew her whistle. "Scrimmage time! Maya, you're with Zara and Leo."
Zara. The girl who'd been Maya's best friend until seventh grade, when she'd suddenly become too cool for anime club and started hanging out with the popular crowd. Now she had that effortless glow-up thing going, and here Maya was, still wearing her lucky Naruto shirt she refused to admit was cringe.
"Hey," Zara said, barely looking up from adjusting her ponytail. "Long time."
"Yeah," Maya managed. "What's up?"
The game started, and Maya's brain went into overdrive. Every time she hit the ball, she had flashbacks to last year's disastrous tryouts for volleyball, where she'd served straight into the gym teacher's coffee. But this time, something clicked. All those mornings running drills, practicing against the garage door until her arms felt like jelly—this time, she was ready.
When Zara smashed a ball toward the back corner, Maya didn't think. She just moved, her body remembering all those hours of practice. She returned it perfectly, watching it sail past Leo's outstretched racquet.
"Damn," Zara said, actually smiling this time. "When did you get good?"
Maya looked at her sweaty palms, then back at Zara. "I've been practicing. Like, a lot."
"Clearly," Zara said. "We should hang again sometime. I've been meaning to check out that new boba place on Main."
Maybe, just maybe, this year wouldn't be so trash after all.