Zombie Mode and Other Mysteries

I walked into third period feeling like a straight-up zombie. Two hours of sleep will do that to you, especially when you spent the night overanalyzing a five-second conversation with Jamie Rivera.

"You look dead," Marcus whispered, sliding into the seat next to me.

"Thanks, you really know how to make a girl feel special." I gestured at my hair, which was currently doing whatever it wanted. "Bad hair day meets my entire existence."

Mr. Henderson was at the front of the room, looking way too excited about mythology. "Today, we explore the sphinx - the guardian of riddles and secrets."

I stared at the screen. The sphinx knew something I didn't - sometimes the hardest riddles are the ones you create yourself. Like why I couldn't just say "hey" to Jamie without it becoming a whole mental situation.

"Padel tournament this weekend," Marcus said, scrolling through his phone. "Jamie's team's playing. You should come."

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

"It's like tennis but cooler," Marcus said. "And Jamie's really good. Like, scary good."

The hallways were crowded at lunch, and I was mentally calculating the safest route to my locker when I heard it - a massive splash, followed by screaming.

"THE GOLDFISH IS ON THE LOOSE!"

I turned to see a fish flopping its way across the floor, having apparently staged a prison break from the biology classroom. Everyone was losing their minds, some kids shrieking and jumping on chairs, others whipping out phones to document the chaos.

Then I locked eyes with Jamie, who was standing there grinning like this was the most normal thing that had ever happened. Our gym bags were practically identical, both slung over our shoulders, both having PADEL written across them in bold letters.

"Want to help me catch him?" Jamie asked, tilting their head toward the escape artist fish.

"Wait, you play padel?" I blurted, because apparently I was incapable of being cool.

Jamie laughed. "Yeah. You should come watch the tournament. Unless you're too busy being a zombie."

I caught my reflection in a classroom window - messy hair, dark circles, embarrassed smile. But somehow, none of it mattered anymore.

"I'm in," I said.

And just like that, the riddle solved itself.