Zombie Mode at the Padel Courts

Maya dragged herself through fourth period physics, definitely operating on zombie mode after staying up until 2 AM scrolling through TikTok. Her best friend Chloe had been texting her all morning about the new padel courts opening at the rec center, but Maya barely had the energy to respond.

"You're coming, right?" Chloe whispered, sliding into the desk beside her as the bell rang. "Marcus and his crew are gonna be there."

Maya's stomach did that thing it always did when Chloe mentioned Marcus—which was approximately every twelve seconds. "I don't even know how to play padel. I'll look stupid."

"It's basically tennis meets squash, but way more chill," Chloe promised, already pulling out her phone to show approximately seventeen TikToks of people playing. "Besides, you're not letting me go alone with Marcus. That's, like, breaking the best friend contract."

After school, Maya found herself standing at the padel courts, wearing an embarrassingly bright orange tank top that Chloe swore was "her color" (it wasn't). The courts were smaller than tennis courts, enclosed by glass walls that had definitely seen better days.

Marcus was already there, laughing at something his friend Jaylen said. When he spotted Maya, he actually waved.

"Hey! You're gonna play?" Marcus called, walking over with this easy confidence Maya definitely did not possess. "It's super chill, I promise."

"I'm basically gonna be swimming in confusion the whole time," Maya admitted, which made him laugh. A genuine laugh, not the polite kind.

"I got you," he said. "Here, take this racket."

An hour later, Maya was running on adrenaline and the weirdest sense of accomplishment she'd felt in months. She wasn't good—she'd missed the ball approximately twenty times and hit the glass wall three times—but Marcus kept encouraging her, and Chloe was too busy making heart eyes at Jaylen to notice Maya's total lack of athletic ability.

"You're actually not terrible for a beginner," Marcus said afterward as they all sat on the bench, drinking Gatorade.

"High praise," Maya said, and he smiled, and suddenly the zombie fog from fourth period felt like it happened in a different lifetime.

"Next Friday?" he asked. "Same time?"

"Maybe," Maya said, trying to play it cool even though her heart was doing something extremely unhinged. "Text me."

Chloe mouthed "I TOLD YOU" behind Marcus's back, and Maya rolled her eyes but couldn't stop smiling. Maybe being a zombie wasn't so bad if it led to moments like this.