Zombie Mode at the Padel Court

The humidity hit me like a wall when I stepped onto the outdoor court. My hair, already frizzy from the summer air, was probably doing that thing where it looked like I'd stuck my finger in an electrical socket. I tugged my baseball hat down lower, like that would somehow help.

"You ready to get destroyed?" Jake called from across the net, grinning with that annoying confidence that came naturally to popular guys.

"Bro, I'm running on zero sleep and three hours of TikTok doomscrolling," I shot back. "I'm in full zombie mode today."

"That's what they all say," Mia said, appearing beside Jake with her padel racket. She flipped her ponytail like she was in a hair commercial. "Don't worry, newbie. We'll go easy on you."

Right. Easy.

The game started and I immediately proved why I'd never been athletic. I missed the ball by three feet. Mia and Jake laughed, but not in a mean way. Or maybe they were. I couldn't tell. That was the problem with being the new kid at summer camp—every laugh felt like it could be at your expense.

Second round in, I actually connected with the ball. It sailed toward Jake, who didn't even have to move. He smashed it back so hard it ricocheted off the fence and hit a water fountain, spraying water everywhere.

"That would've been an epic point if there were, like, zero rules," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead.

"You're not terrible," Mia said, surprising me. "You've got decent form. You're just overthinking it."

Jake tossed me a water bottle. "Here. Before you actually turn into a zombie."

Maybe it was the heat making everyone delirious, but the next hour was actually fun. I stopped caring that my hair looked like a disaster under my hat. I stopped worrying about impressing anyone. When I finally managed to score against Jake—pure luck, but still—both of them cheered like I'd won the championship.

"Not bad for a zombie," Jake said, bumping my fist as we walked off the court.

"What can I say? Brains aren't everything."

Mia laughed. "See you tomorrow, same time?"

"Yeah," I said, and for the first time all summer, I meant it.