The Fox in the Hat

Maya's baseball cap sat low over her eyes, a shield against the world. Or more specifically, against lacrosse practice—again. She'd quit three weeks ago when her wrist started bothering her, but nobody at school had gotten the memo. The questions were exhausting.

"Are you coming back?" "We need you, Maya." "Why'd you even quit?"

She adjusted her hat, scrolling through her iPhone. The group chat was blowing up about Tyler's padel tournament this weekend. Padel—because apparently tennis wasn't exclusive enough anymore. Tyler had basically invented the sport at their school, and now everyone who was anyone played.

Including Sarah, the girl Maya had been crushing on since October.

"You should come," Sarah had said earlier that day, touching Maya's arm. "It'll be fun. We can teach you."

Maya had almost said yes. But then she'd remembered: she couldn't even hold a racquet without wincing. The stupid wrist that had ended her baseball career before it really started.

Her phone buzzed. Sarah: "???"

Right. She'd left Sarah on read.

Maya groaned and tossed her phone onto her bed. This was fine. Everything was fine. She'd just stay home this weekend and—

"You know," her mom called from the hallway, "your dad found those old photos of you from softball camp. The ones where you're wearing that ridiculous fox ears headband?"

Maya's face burned. "Mom. NO."

"You were so cute though! You told everyone you were part fox. Said foxes were the coolest because they're sneaky and nobody notices them until it's too late."

Maya froze. Foxes. Sneaky. Unnoticed.

Her fingers found her phone again. Tyler's padel court had a high fence around it. Nobody could see in from the outside. But if she climbed the oak tree next to it...

She grabbed her hoodie and her keys.

The fence was taller than it looked. But Maya had always been good at climbing—another thing she'd learned from all those years of baseball, stealing bases like her life depended on it. She swung herself over the top and dropped silently onto the grass below.

Sarah was sitting alone on a bench, tying her shoes.

"What are you—" Sarah jumped, then laughed. "Maya? How did you even get in here?"

"Fox ways," Maya said, feeling ridiculous but also weirdly proud.

Sarah studied her for a moment. "Your hat's cute."

"Thanks."

"You should take it off though. I like your face."

Maya's heart did something illegal. "Oh."

"Also," Sarah continued, "I was kind of hoping you'd show up. Tyler's an idiot, but the game's actually pretty fun. And I bet you'd be amazing at it."

"I can't really play," Maya admitted. "My wrist."

"So we'll figure it out," Sarah said like it was the simplest thing in the world. "We can start with just hitting against the wall. No pressure."

Maya took off her hat.

"Okay," she said. "But if I suck, you're legally required to pretend I don't."

Sarah's smile was worth everything. "Deal."