The Vitamin Caper

Leo's shoulder had been throbbing since preseason, but admitting it meant accepting his baseball dreams were basically cooked. So instead of telling Coach, he spent fifth period staring at Maya's posts on his iPhone — she was always at that padel court near the rec center, looking annoyingly perfect in her neon skirt.

"You're literally obsessed," Jordan said, sliding into the cafeteria bench beside him. "Just talk to her already."

"I'm not obsessed," Leo lied, closing Instagram way too fast. "I'm doing research."

"On what, padel? Since when do you care about tennis's weird cousin?"

Since the doctor said his shoulder needed three months of rest and vitamins that tasted like actual sadness. Since his entire identity had been "baseball guy" since tee-ball. Since watching Maya play this sport he'd never heard of made him feel something besides sorry for himself.

That Friday, Leo found himself at the rec center, racket in hand, heart basically beating out of his chest. He'd watched enough YouTube tutorials to fake it. Probably.

The padel court was smaller than he expected — surrounded by glass walls like something from a sci-fi movie. Maya was there, practicing serves against the backboard.

"Spying again?" she called out without turning around.

Leo froze. "How did you—"

"The Instagram stories." She finally looked at him, smiling in a way that made his stomach do something embarrassing. "You view them literally seconds after I post. Every time."

Heat rushed to his face. "I was just—"

"Researching padel?" She raised an eyebrow. "Cool. So you know I need a partner for mixed doubles?"

"I don't actually know how to play," Leo admitted. "I was just—"

"Trying to figure out who you are without baseball?" Her expression softened. "I know who you are, Leo. Everyone does. The guy who's been shaking his vitamin supplements at lunch like they're magic potions. The guy who watches my stories from the library. The guy showing up here with a rented racket and zero game."

She tossed him a ball. "C'mon. I'll teach you. But you have to stop with the covert ops thing. Just talk to me."

Leo caught it. For the first time since his injury, something didn't hurt. "Deal."