The Padel Court Disaster

My uncle Bear—so nicknamed because he hugged like a grizzly and had the same eyebrows—had signed me up for padel camp without asking. Again.

"You'll thank me, Maya," he'd said, sliding a neon yellow racquet across the kitchen table. "Kids your age live for this stuff. It's like tennis but cooler."

Cooler was debatable, especially when my best friend Priya showed up at the courts with HER new friend Chloe, who I'd been ghosting since they started hanging out without me. The three of us had been inseparable in middle school, but freshman year had changed everything. Chloe wore crop tops and knew everyone. I wore overalls and knew how to identify different types of moss.

"Maya!" Chloe waved, her smile genuine. "You're playing too? This is awesome!"

I mumbled something about Uncle Bear and summer plans while Priya gave me that tight-lipped look that meant we needed to talk later. On the court, I managed to not embarrass myself completely until the coach paired us up for a tournament. Me, Priya, and Chloe against three guys from our grade—including Caleb, who I'd had a crush on since he'd helped me pick up my dropped textbooks in September.

"Nice shot," Caleb said after I somehow returned a serve that should've been impossible.

I opened my mouth to say thanks, but Priya's eyes went wide. She was staring at my teeth.

Then Chloe started laughing. Not mean laughing—confused laughing. Like she couldn't help herself.

"Maya," she choked out. "You have—there's—you ate that spinach wrap earlier, right?"

I ran to the bathroom mirror. A giant, emerald chunk of spinach was wedged between my front teeth like a mossy monument to my eternal awkwardness.

When I came back, ready to die, Chloe was waiting.

"Happened to me last year at homecoming," she said, pulling a mirror from her bag. "Caleb still asked me to dance. Twice."

Priya groaned. "Ugh, I forgot about that. You cried in the bathroom for twenty minutes."

"Forty-five," Chloe corrected. Then she looked at me. "So, are we doing this? Together?"

Something shifted. The spinach wasn't just humiliation anymore—it was this weird, gross bridge. Priya grabbed my hand. Chloe passed me a water bottle. And somewhere, Uncle Bear was probably high-fiving himself for forcing me onto that court.

"We're gonna crush these guys," I said.

"With your teeth?" Chloe asked.

"Shut up, Chloe."

We lost the match 6-2. But walking home with Priya on one side and Chloe on the other, sharing a bag of spinach chips Chloe had brought, I felt like I'd won something bigger.