The Padel Court Cure

I walked through the hallways of Northwood High feeling like a straight-up zombie. Three hours of sleep AP Chemistry crisis will do that to you. My grey beanie was pulled low like armor against the fluorescent lights and the social landmines waiting around every corner.

"Hey Bennett, ready to get crushed again?" Jake called from his locker. He was adjusting his baseball cap—that thing was practically surgically attached to his head. Jake had played varsity since sophomore year and treated every interaction like the bottom of the ninth.

"Not today, man. I've got this insane history test to study for."

"You always have an excuse. Come on, even a bull takes a break from charging at stuff once in a while."

I snorted. Jake's comparisons were getting weirder by the week.

The truth was, I'd been spending every afternoon at the new padel courts by the community center. Padel was like tennis meets squash meets whatever your cousin who thinks they're athletic played on spring break. And somehow, I was actually kinda good at it.

The best part? Nobody from school knew about it. It was my thing.

Until Wednesday.

I was in the middle of a solid rally when I spotted her—Maya Chen, standing by the fence watching. Maya, who sat behind me in pre-calc and never spoke. Maya, whose Instagram stories were basically aesthetic goals and had more followers than our entire graduating class combined.

My brain short-circuited. I missed the ball completely. It hit me square in the chest.

"Nice form," she said, walking over. "I didn't know anyone from school played here."

"Uh, yeah. Just started. I'm terrible, obviously."

"You're not terrible. I've been watching for like ten minutes. You've got some clean shots." She adjusted her own hat—a black trucker that looked better than anything I owned. "I play Saturdays if you want a real opponent."

My face went full radiation. "Yeah. Totally. Saturday."

"Cool. See you then, Bennett."

She walked away, and I stood there holding my padel racket like an idiot, feeling more awake than I had in months. The zombie fog had finally lifted, and for the first time since freshman year started, I was actually looking forward to tomorrow.