The Bear on Court Three

Leo's first mistake was letting Maya talk him into open court day at the rec center. 'Everyone's playing padel now,' she'd said, like that explained why he—clutch coordinator, debate team captain, certified indoor kid—should be holding a racquet.

The court looked terrifying. Green surface, glass walls, and in the middle of Court Three stood Bear. Actually named Bjorn, but everyone called him Bear because the dude was massive—a senior, varsity everything, currently destroying some poor freshman with serves that sounded like gunshots.

'This is fine,' Leo whispered to himself. 'This is totally normal and not a panic attack waiting to happen.'

His cat, Mochi, would be judging him so hard right now. She was back at home probably sleeping in his laundry basket, living her best life, not humiliating herself in front of half the school.

'You next?' The voice belonged to Bear, who was now looming. Up close, he was less scary. Just tall. Kinda tired-looking, actually.

Leo's mouth went dry. 'Uh, I've never—'

'First time?' Bear raised an eyebrow. 'Cool. I can teach you.' He passed Leo a ball. 'The trick is, don't overthink it. Padel's 80% instinct, 20% not looking like an idiot.'

They played for twenty minutes. Bear was patient, surprisingly. He corrected Leo's grip without making him feel stupid, laughed when Leo somehow hit the ball backward, and didn't even mock the way Leo's knees shook every time Bear served near him.

'You're actually not terrible,' Bear said afterward, bumping fists. 'Same time next week?'

'Yeah,' Leo found himself saying. 'Yeah, for sure.'

Walking home, Leo realized something: he'd survived. He might even go back. Mochi would be proud—well, as proud as a cat could be, which mostly meant not vomiting in his shoes.

Sometimes the scary things weren't so bad. Sometimes Bear was just Bjorn. And sometimes, you didn't have to be good at something to enjoy it. You just had to show up.