The Zombie Who Couldn't Padel

Charlie's summer had transformed him into a certified zombie. Six AM swim practice, five days a week, will do that to a fifteen-year-old whose idea of athletics previously extended to reaching for the remote without spilling his chips. His eyes perpetually burned from chlorine, his limbs felt like they belonged to someone else, and his social life had officially drowned.

"Dude, you look dead," Marcus said, flopping onto the lounge chair beside Charlie at the Palm Springs resort his parents had dragged them to. "Like, actually deceased."

"Feels accurate," Charlie mumbled, shading his eyes with his palm. "My coach says I need to work on my flip turns if I want to make varsity next year. Meanwhile, you're on vacation living your best life."

Marcus grinned. "Not just vacation, my friend. I'm about to dominate the padel court. You're coming."

"I don't even know what padel is."

"It's like tennis but cooler. Smaller court, walls you can hit off, way more vibey." Marcus stood up and started doing weird stretches. "There's these girls from LA at the court every morning. Sophomores. They seem chill."

Charlie's stomach did that thing it always did when girls were mentioned — a combination of excitement and imminent vomiting. "You want me to meet girls looking like this?" He gestured at his chlorined-out hair and exhausted everything.

"You're overthinking it. Just be your weird self. Girls love the mystery of the swimming zombie aesthetic."

The padel court was surrounded by swaying palm trees that cast long shadows across the blue artificial turf. Two girls were already there, laughing as they hit balls back and forth. Charlie's heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.

"Hey!" Marcus called, striding up like he owned the place. "Wanna play doubles?"

The taller girl, who had curly hair and the kind of effortless cool Charlie would never achieve, smiled. "Sure, I'm Jade. This is Priya. You guys any good?"

"Terrible," Charlie said honestly, which made her laugh.

"I like him," Jade said to Priya. "He's honest about his mediocrity. Refreshing change."

An hour later, Charlie was terrible, but he was also maybe kind of having fun. He missed every ball, tripped over his own feet, and accidentally hit one straight into Priya's back. But instead of being annoyed, she was practically crying from laughter, and Charlie found himself laughing too — the first real laugh he'd had all summer.

"Okay, zombie," Jade said as they all sat on the bench afterward, sweating and exhausted. "You're definitely not a padel pro, but you're funny as hell. We're doing this tomorrow. Same time?"

"Only if he teaches us that flip turn thing," Priya added. "I've always wanted to learn proper swimming technique."

Charlie looked at Marcus, who was wearing the most smug I-told-you-so expression in existence. Then he looked at the palm trees swaying against the perfectly blue sky, felt the chlorine still stubbornly clinging to his skin, and thought maybe — just maybe — his zombie summer was about to get a whole lot more alive.