Struck

Maya's cousin Emma had talked up the country club all summer. The padel courts, she'd said, were where the popular kids hung out. Where things happened. Now here Maya was, standing at the edge of Court 4, clutching a borrowed racquet like it might bite.

"You got this, Maya!" Emma called from the sidelines, already part of a group of girls with perfect hair and expensive swimsuits. Maya forced a smile. Her frizz was already revolting in the humidity.

Across the net, Tyler from her English class grinned. He was cute in that way that made your stomach do weird little flips. "Ready to get crushed, Perez?"

"In your dreams, Chen," she shot back, surprised by her own boldness.

The game started. Padel was like tennis but weirder—the ball could bounce off the walls, which threw off her rhythm completely. Tyler's serves were lethal. But Maya found herself actually having fun, laughing when she missed an easy shot, cheering when she managed a corner shot that Tyler couldn't return.

Then her phone buzzed in her pocket. Not the usual vibration—this was frantic. She'd forgotten to plug in before leaving, and she was at 3%. The charging cable was back at the house, tangled on her nightstand next to unfinished summer reading.

Whatever. Let it die.

She returned to the game, sweat dripping, muscles burning, feeling alive in a way she hadn't all summer. Then the sky darkened. The first crack of thunder made everyone jump.

"Lightning warning!" someone yelled. The group scattered toward the clubhouse. Maya paused, watching the storm roll in across the water, all purple clouds and jagged flashes.

"You coming?" Tyler stood at the edge of the court, rain flattening his hair.

"Yeah," she said. "Just a second."

She stood there in the downpour, not caring about her hair or her dead phone or that Emma was probably wondering where she was. For the first time all summer, Maya felt exactly like herself. Not the new girl, not the quiet one, not Emma's cousin. Just Maya, standing in a summer storm, balling her fists against the lightning because she could.

"Maya!" Tyler waved her over.

She ran toward the clubhouse, grinning, rain streaming down her face. Whatever happened tomorrow, she'd remember this.