Vitamin D and Big Lies

Marcus stared at the neon orange bottle in his palm. Vitamin D3 — the kind his mom swore would fix everything. Like a simple supplement could transform him from benchwarmer to starter, from invisible to unforgettable.

"You coming to the baseball cages?" Ty called from the doorway, already in his varsity jacket like it was part of his skin. The team was heading out for pre-season practice, everything effortless.

Marcus hesitated. "Nah. Got... stuff."

"Again?" Ty raised an eyebrow. "What stuff?"

"Just stuff."

Total bull. The only stuff Marcus had was a new obsession with padel — this Spanish racquet sport he'd discovered on YouTube at 2 AM when he couldn't sleep. It felt ridiculous, practicing serves against his garage door while the rest of the world was obsessed with baseball like it was religion. But there was something about the way the ball exploded off the wall, the way you had to think three moves ahead, that made his brain light up like nothing else.

His phone buzzed. Sofia: courts at 4? don't be late

Sofia, who'd moved here from Madrid last year and didn't care about being cool because she already was. She'd found Marcus hitting balls against the middle school and taught him the real game.

"Marcus?" Ty was still waiting.

"I gotta go," Marcus said, shoving the vitamin bottle in his pocket. "Later."

The lie tasted like copper. Ty's face flickered — disappointed, judgmental, whatever. It didn't matter. Marcus grabbed his bike and flew down the street, wind in his ears, heart hammering like he'd already won something.

Sofia was already there, setting up cones like she owned the world. Her ponytail swished when she turned. "Took you long enough."

"Traffic."

"In the suburbs? Sure." She tossed him a racquet. "Let's see what you got."

They played for hours. Marcus's arms burned, his sneakers squeaked on the concrete, and somewhere around the fifth game, he forgot about everything else. The vitamins in his pocket rattled with every point — useless little pills that couldn't touch this feeling of being exactly where he was supposed to be.

"You're getting better," Sofia said afterward, sitting on the bench and sharing her water bottle. "Like, actually good."

"Yeah right."

"I don't bull." She grinned. "Tryouts for the club team are next month. You should come."

Marcus looked at the padel court, then toward the baseball fields in the distance where Ty and the others were probably doing something impressive and normal and expected. The vitamin bottle was still in his pocket, heavy with all the things he was supposed to be.

He took the bottle out and tossed it in the trash.

"Yeah," Marcus said. "I'll be there."