The Green Between Everything

Maya smoothed her skirt for the third time, watching the padel ball bounce off the court wall. Her dad had joined the club three weeks ago and suddenly decided he was a padel enthusiast. Maya would've preferred staying home and scrolling TikTok, but here she was, stuck at Saturday lessons with a bunch of kids who'd probably been holding racquets since birth.

"You're gripping it too tight," said Jake, the cute instructor with somehow-perfect hair even in ninety-degree heat. Maya's palms were literally dripping onto her racquet handle.

They took a break at the clubhouse. Maya's dad insisted she try the spinach artichoke dip because "it's practically a vegetable." She'd been awkwardly chewing when Jake's friends from the varsity team walked over. Naturally, one of them was Chloe, who sat behind her in English and had already witnessed Maya fall asleep in class twice.

"Hey Jake," Chloe said, flipping her ponytail. "Who's your new student?"

Maya smiled and tried to swallow the spinach at the same time. Big mistake. A green piece lodged itself right between her front teeth. She saw it happen in Chloe's eyes — the widening, then the barely-contained laugh.

"I'm gonna get some water," Maya mumbled, fleeing toward the fountain like her dignity depended on it.

The water wouldn't come out fast enough. She could hear them behind her — Jake saying something, Chloe giggling, her dad totally oblivious and probably telling them about her SAT scores. She splashed water on her face, trying to look casual and not like she was dying inside.

When she finally checked her phone in the bathroom mirror, she had a text from an unknown number: *Your front teeth are good now lol.*

It was Jake.

Back at the padel court, Maya didn't care about her grip or the score or the way Chloe's friends kept looking over. She hit the ball hard, watched it bounce off the back wall, and realized that sometimes the most embarrassing moments were just plot points in the story you'd tell later. The spinach was gone, the water had saved her, and somehow Jake knew her name now.