Vitamin Padel Summer

The first time I stepped onto the padel court, my stomach did that thing where it feels like you've swallowed an entire bucket of butterflies. I'd spent the whole summer reinventing myself—new haircut, new wardrobe, new everything—and now my cousin Jessica had talked me into joining her padel clinic because, as she'd put it, "It's giving main character energy and you're literally background characters right now."

That stung, mostly because it was true.

The coach, Mateo, was nineteen and had this effortless confidence that made everyone want to impress him. He'd been giving me these weird looks all morning, and I was convinced it was because I was terrible. I kept missing shots by inches, my racket feeling like a foreign object in my hands.

"You okay?" Jessica whispered during a water break. "You're playing like you're... I don't know, bearing a massive weight or something."

I snorted. "Pretty sure that's not the expression."

"Whatever. You're off."

She didn't know the half of it. My mom had started me on these new vitamins that morning—supposed to help with focus and stress or whatever—and I'd spent the last three hours feeling like my skin was vibrating. Like I was one wrong move away from shattering into a million awkward pieces.

Mateo called us back. I squared up against this guy who'd been crushing it all morning, some sophomore named Marcus who moved like he'd been born holding a racket. He served, the ball coming at me fast and unpredictable.

And then something clicked.

I didn't think about the vitamins making me feel weird. I didn't think about Jessica's standards or how badly I wanted to belong here. I just moved, swinging into the shot and sending it back hard. Marcus's eyes went wide. I didn't stop there—I kept playing, finding this rhythm I didn't know I had, wall after wall, point after point.

Afterward, Mateo pulled me aside. "Hey, rookie—that was unexpected."

"Thanks?" I said, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He shook his head, grinning. "No, I mean it. You've been holding back all day. What changed?"

I thought about it for a second. "My mom put me on these vitamins this morning. Said they'd help with... I don't know, everything. Maybe they actually work?"

Mateo laughed. "Or maybe you just stopped overthinking it. Sometimes that's the best supplement of all."

Walking home with Jessica, I felt different. Not reinvented, exactly—more like I'd found something real underneath all the new exterior. The summer wasn't about becoming someone else. It was about figuring out who I'd been all along, just waiting for the right moment to show up and serve.

"You killed it out there," Jessica said, bumping my shoulder. "Giving main character energy, finally."

"Whatever," I said, but I was smiling. "Maybe a little."