Text Message at Midnight

Maya's fingers hovered over her iPhone screen, the blue light making her eyes sting in the darkness of her room. The notification had just pinged — a group chat invitation from the people she'd been trying to impress since freshman year.

They wanted her at the country club tomorrow. For padel. Maya had never played padel in her life. She'd barely even tennis.

Outside her window, Buster — her ancient, farting golden retriever — let out a whiffly snore from his bed on the back porch. He was the only one who didn't care that Maya was desperately trying to reinvent herself before senior year. The old Maya stayed home reading. The new Maya went pool parties and acted like she knew things.

The pool party last weekend had been a disaster. Everyone had been swimming laps and doing cannonballs off the diving board while Maya sat poolside, fully dressed, sweating through her t-shirt because she'd forgotten to pack a swimsuit. Someone had asked if she was coming in, and she'd mumbled something about not wanting to ruin her hair. They'd looked at her like she was from another planet.

Now she was running out of time. Literally running — her cross-country coach had noticed she'd skipped practice three times that week. "You're chasing the wrong things, Martinez," he'd said after practice, his voice dropping low. "I see you running yourself ragged trying to be someone you're not. What's wrong with who you already are?"

The question had stuck with her, rattling around in her brain like a coin in a dryer.

Her iPhone pinged again. "u coming? we need a fourth for padel tomorrow. sarah flaked lol"

Maya looked at Buster, who was now thumping his tail against the porch rails, sensing she was awake. He didn't care if she knew how to play padel. He didn't care if she swam or sat on the edge or jumped in with all her clothes on. He just thought she was the greatest person who'd ever lived, mostly because she was the one with the treats.

She typed back: "count me in :-)"

Then she set down the phone, opened the back door, and sat down next to her dog in the cool night air. She'd figure out padel tomorrow. For now, this was enough.