Summer Court Blues

The papaya incident was officially the worst thing that happened to me all summer. Scratch that — all year.

"Dude, you good?" Marcus asked, trying to suppress a laugh as I frantically wiped orange pulp from my padel uniform.

"Totally," I lied. "Just... embracing my tropical side."

This was day three of the elite summer sports academy, and I was already failing at life. Everyone here had been playing padel since they were literally in diapers. Meanwhile, I'd only picked up a racquet two weeks ago when my mom signed me up, saying I needed to "get out of my comfort zone."

Spoiler: My comfort zone was perfectly fine.

Coach Reynolds blew his whistle. "Alright, scrimmage time! Marcus, you're partnering with Jordan. Zara, you're with..."

Please not him. Please not—

"...Lucas."

I caught Lucas's eye across the court. He was the kind of guy who made everything look effortless — all tousled hair and easy confidence. We'd been paired up yesterday, and I'd spent the whole match overthinking every swing until my hands shook.

"Hey," Lucas said, jogging over. "You ready to crush it?"

"Barely," I muttered.

We started playing, and something weird happened. Instead of overthinking, I just... moved. My body knew what to do. When Lucas sent a ball flying toward the back wall, I found myself sprinting across the court, racquet raised, and slammed it back with perfect form.

"Yesss!" Lucas bumped my fist. "That's what I'm talking about!"

We played like that for twenty minutes straight — no pressure, no anxiety, just the rhythm of the game and the satisfying thwack of the ball against the glass walls. For the first time all week, I wasn't thinking about how much I didn't belong.

Afterward, we sat on the bench, both sweaty and breathless.

"You're actually really good," Lucas said.

"I was terrified the first time we played," I admitted. "I feel like I've been running from my own shadow all week."

"Bro, we're all terrified." Lucas leaned back. "That's the thing nobody tells you about this place. Everyone's pretending they know what they're doing."

I looked at the orange stain still visible on my shirt from lunch. "Even the papaya disaster?"

"Especially the papaya disaster." He grinned. "Marcus told everyone. Pretty sure it's legendary now."

I couldn't help but laugh. Maybe this summer wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe I could bear being the new kid a little longer.

"Same time tomorrow?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah." I smiled. "Same time tomorrow."