Summer Hearts and Serve

The pool shimmered like liquid sapphires under the July sun, but Maya's stomach was doing backflips that had nothing to do with the heat. This was THE party — the one everyone would be talking about when school started again. The one where she'd finally talk to him.

"You got this," Chloe whispered, adjusting Maya's straw hat. "Just be cool. You're literally in your era right now."

Maya wasn't feeling cool. She was feeling extremely baby in the worst way. Especially when she saw Jace emerging from the water, droplets racing down his arms like he was some kind of slow-motion movie protagonist.

"Wanna play padel?" someone called from the court nearby. Jace's face lit up. "Yeah!"

This was it. Maya grabbed a racquet, her palms suddenly sweating like she'd just run a marathon. She'd never played before, but how hard could it be? It was basically tennis meets squash, right?

She was wrong. So wrong.

Her first serve sailed backward and nearly took out Mrs. Henderson's prize poodle, who had been napping peacefully under a palm tree. The dog woke with an offended yip that somehow sounded exactly like Maya's internal screaming.

The whole party went quiet.

Then Jace started laughing. Not mean laughter — the genuine, head-thrown-back kind that made his dimples pop. "That was iconic," he said, walking over. "Ten out of ten for chaos."

Maya's face burned hotter than the pavement. "I've never played. I was just trying to—"

"Here." He adjusted her grip, his fingers brushing hers for a second that felt simultaneously like forever and not long enough. "Try like this. Loose wrist, eyes on the ball. Pretend you're serving main character energy."

They played for an hour. Maya missed more shots than she connected with, but something shifted. Every time she messed up, Jace made a joke. Every time she landed one, he celebrated like she'd won Wimbledon.

Later, as the sun painted the sky in impossible oranges and pinks, they sat by the pool, legs dangling in the water. Her hat had been abandoned somewhere — probably near that traumatized dog.

"You know," Jace said, bumping her shoulder, "you're actually kind of a natural at being terrible at sports. It's a vibe."

Maya laughed, realizing she was happier than she'd been all summer. Maybe perfect wasn't the point. Maybe this messy, embarrassing, completely ungraceful version of herself was exactly the right version to be seen in.