The Summer I Didn't Drown

I stood at the edge of the padel court, clutching my racket like it might save me from falling into the abyss of social embarrassment. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, illuminating my very mediocre athletic existence.

"You coming, Leo?" Jordan called, already at the net. His perfect serve bounced near my feet. I couldn't let myself get crushed again. Not after last week when I somehow managed to hit the ball into my own face.

My summer had been a series of small humiliations: failing my driver's test ( parallel parking, RIP), my parents finding my vape stash (it wasn't even mine, I was holding it for Tyler), and now this—Friday night padel with the popular crowd who'd somehow decided I was worth inviting.

The bear incident didn't help. Two weeks ago, I'd been hiking with my dog, Buster, when we'd stumbled across a black bear near the trail. I'd frozen, utterly convinced I was about to become headlines: LOCAL TEEN MAULED WHILE DOG WATCHES HELPLESSLY. Buster, traitor that he was, had bolted. The bear had just looked at me like I was barely worth eating and lumbered away. But Jordan had turned it into this whole thing—"Bear-whisperer Leo"—and now everyone expected me to be some outdoors expert when I was just a guy who played too much Fortnite.

My mom's voice echoed in my head: "Did you take your vitamin D? You're always inside, you're gonna get deficient." She'd make me take these huge horse pills every morning, claiming they'd fix everything from my acne to my posture. Spoiler: they did neither.

"Yo, Earth to Bear-whisperer!" I blinked. Jordan was smiling—actually smiling, not mocking. "Your serve."

I hit the ball. It sailed perfectly over the net, dropped just inside the line. Point Leo.

"Savage!" Maya said from the sidelines, and my stomach did that annoying fluttery thing. She'd been showing up to every game, sitting close enough that our shoulders touched. I was overthinking it, obviously. She was just being Maya—beautiful, confident, totally out of my league Maya.

After the game, someone suggested swimming at Jordan's pool. The pool party. The ultimate test of teenage survival. Usually I'd fake an excuse, but something about tonight felt different.

In the water, Maya found me. "Hey Bear-whisperer."

"Please never call me that again."

She laughed. It echoed off the water. "You know you're actually not terrible at padel. And the bear thing? Kinda brave."

"I didn't do anything. I just stood there."

"Sometimes standing there is the brave part." She treaded water, her eyes holding mine in that way that makes everything else go fuzzy. "You're not as awkward as you think, Leo."

Later that night, lying in bed with Buster snoring at my feet, I caught myself smiling. Tomorrow, I'd probably trip in the cafeteria or say something weird in AP Bio. But maybe—just maybe—I wasn't completely hopeless.

I reached for the vitamin bottle on my nightstand. Maybe Mom was right about some things. Change was happening, just not in the way I'd expected.