The Last Serve

Finn stared at the goldfish bowl on his nightstand, watching Bubbles swim lazy circles. At least someone's life was simple.

"You going to that padel tryout today?" his mom yelled from downstairs.

"Maybe," Finn muttered, not moving.

The truth? He was terrified. Not of the sport — he'd been practicing serves against the garage wall for weeks. But of who would be there.

Carter.

The bull of freshman year who'd made Finn's life miserable. The guy who'd tripped him in the cafeteria, "accidentally" dumped his backpack in the fountain, and spread rumors that Finn still slept with a nightlight.

Finn grabbed his phone. No service. Again. The cable company had been "working on it" since Tuesday, which meant another day of staring at walls instead of scrolling through TikTok.

Might as well go.

The padel courts at the rec center were buzzing. Twelve kids, Carter included, looking way too confident with their paddles and coordinated outfits.

"Freshman!" Carter called out, spotting Finn immediately. "Come to watch real players?"

A few kids laughed. Finn's face burned.

"Actually, I'm trying out," Finn said, his voice barely steady.

Carter's expression flickered — surprise, then something else. "You play?"

"Yeah."

The coach blew her whistle. "Pair up! Rotation drills!"

By some cosmic joke, Finn ended up opposite Carter.

Finn's first serve went into the net. Carter didn't laugh, just watched.

Second serve: perfect. It clipped the line, spinning away before Carter could react.

"Not bad," Carter said, actually looking at Finn for the first time.

They played. Finn realized something — he was good. Like, actually good. His backhand was sharp. His drops shots were nasty. And Carter? Carter was struggling.

"Where'd you learn?" Carter asked between points, almost impressed.

"Garage wall," Finn said. "Every day since summer."

"Huh."

By the end of tryouts, Finn had won more points than lost. People were high-fiving him. asking for his Insta. Even Carter nodded, something like respect in his eyes.

Walking home, Finn pulled out his phone. Still no cable, no service. But somehow, the disconnected world felt bigger than it had this morning.

He unlocked his door and dropped his bag.

"How was it?" his mom called.

Finn smiled, really smiled, for the first time in forever.

"Good," he said. "Actually, pretty epic."

In his room, Bubbles swam to the front of the bowl, like she was waiting. Finn tapped the glass gently.

"Tomorrow," he whispered. "We're going back."

The goldfish seemed to approve.