The Truth About Leo

The first time I saw Leo at the community center, he was like a walking sphinx—mysterious, unreadable, and impossible to figure out. I'd been crushing on him for weeks, which was exactly why I was currently hiding behind the vending machine like a total loser, watching him play padel with his friends through the crack in the door. Pathetic? Maybe. But everyone's a spy in eighth grade, gathering intelligence on who likes who, who sits with whom at lunch, which teachers are actually chill.

I was so absorbed in my reconnaissance mission that I didn't notice Chloe come up behind me.

"Seriously, Maya? Again?" She bumped my shoulder with hers. "You've been swimming in denial since June. Just talk to him."

"Easy for you to say," I muttered. "You're not the one who freezes up like a deer in headlights whenever he walks by."

The problem wasn't just Leo. It was Marcus—the bull in our china shop of a social circle. Marcus had made it clear, in his not-so-subtle way, that he had his eye on Leo too. And Marcus didn't do subtle. He did loud, he did aggressive, he did whatever it took to get what he wanted.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Leo stood there, padel racket still in hand, sweat dripping down his forehead. My brain short-circuited.

"Hey," he said, looking directly at me. "You're Maya, right? From English class?"

I nodded, probably looking like I'd forgotten how language works.

"I was wondering," he continued, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "if you'd want to—"

"She'd love to!" Chloe practically shouted.

Leo laughed, and the sound sent actual butterflies through my stomach. "I was going to say if you'd want to join our padel tournament tomorrow. We're short a player."

"Yes," I said, maybe a little too quickly. "I mean, yeah, sure."

"Cool." He grinned. "See you then, Maya."

As he walked away, Chloe grabbed my arm. "Did that just happen?"

"I think so," I breathed, feeling like I'd just solved the world's most impossible riddle.

"And," Chloe added, "I think you just took the bull by the horns."

I watched Leo disappear around the corner, already counting down the hours until tomorrow. Maybe being brave wasn't about not being scared. Maybe it was about being scared and doing it anyway—spying from behind the vending machine one day, stepping onto the court the next.