Zombie Summer at the Padel Court

I looked like a straight-up zombie after pulling an all-nighter finishing my English essay. My hair was doing something questionable—half mohawk, half bird's nest, and 100% a disaster. But honestly? I didn't care. It was day three of the regional padel tournament, and I was living for every second of it.

Maya found me slumped against the wall outside the courts, halfway through my third Gatorade. 'You look rough,' she said, grinning. 'Ready to get destroyed again?'

'Speak for yourself,' I shot back, though we both knew she'd crushed me yesterday's match. That's the thing about Maya—she's like this sphinx of mysterious calm on the court, completely unreadable until she absolutely schools you.

The July heat was brutal. Between games, we'd dunk our heads under the outdoor water fountain like total weirdos, hair dripping everywhere, not caring how ridiculous we looked. My hair kept falling in my face during serves, and I'd just tuck it behind my ears and keep playing.

'Your hair is literally a creature of its own today,' Maya laughed during a break.

'Don't be jealous,' I said, flipping my imaginary luscious locks. 'It's called commitment to the aesthetic.'

Our doubles match against those sophomore boys was EPIC. They were trash-talking the whole time—big mistake. Maya and I went full zombie mode: zero emotions, just pure, calculated destruction. Every point they won, we'd respond like, 'Cool, cool.' Every point we won? Silence. Dead eyes. Total sphinx energy.

By match point, I was sweating through everything, hair plastered to my forehead, feeling like I'd gone ten rounds with life itself. But when Maya smashed that final shot down the line and the boys just stood there stunned? Worth it.

We grabbed smoothies afterward, sitting on the curb in our padel gear, legs tired, brains fried, completely zombie-fied but somehow more alive than ever.

'Same time next week?' Maya asked, dripping water everywhere from her post-fountain shower.

'You know it,' I said. 'But maybe I'll actually sleep this time.'

She laughed. 'Yeah, right. You're not gonna sleep. You're gonna do it all again.'

And she wasn't wrong. Some things are worth feeling like a zombie for.