Zombie Mode at the Net

Maya wiped sweat from her forehead, feeling exactly like a **zombie**. Three hours of sleep. That's what junior year did to you. She stood at the **padel** court, clutching her racket like it was a weapon she barely knew how to use.

"You got this, Maya!" Liam called from the other side of the net. He'd somehow convinced her to join his club, even though she'd never played in her life.

The ball sailed toward her. She swung. Missed completely. It splashed into the **water** cooler nearby, soaking Coach Miller's towel.

"My bad," Maya mumbled, face burning. Why had she agreed to this? She couldn't even **running**—she'd quit track freshman year when she realized she hated every second of it.

Liam jogged over, grinning. "Dude, you're overthinking it. Literally no one cares."

"I care," she said. "Everyone's staring."

"No one's staring. You know what they're thinking about?"

"What?"

"Themselves. Always." He tossed her a **spinach** smoothie from his bag. "My mom's healthy phase. Try it, it's actually not terrible."

Maya took a sip. It was... fine. Not great, not terrible. Just like everything lately.

"Hey," Liam said softly. "Why'd you really join? You hate sports."

She looked at her worn-out sneakers. "Because I'm tired of being the girl who sits in the corner at parties. The one who leaves early. The one who's always tired and boring and—"

"A zombie?" Liam finished.

"Yeah."

"Maya, you're not boring. You're tired. There's a difference." He paused. "You don't have to be good at **padel**. You don't have to love **running** or drinking **spinach** smoothies or pretending you're someone you're not. You just have to show up. That's it."

She looked at him—really looked at him. He wasn't waiting for her to be cool or athletic or impressive. He was just there.

"**Water** break!" someone yelled.

Maya laughed. It felt real. "You know what? This smoothie actually kind of sucks."

"Thank you," Liam said, grinning. "I've been trying to finish it all morning."

They sat on the bench together, watching the others play, and for the first time in forever, Maya didn't feel like she was performing. She was just there. And maybe that was enough.