Dead Awake

Maya dragged herself into third period, feeling like a complete zombie. Three hours of sleep because of that history paper would do that to you. Her best friend Jayla caught her eye from across the room and made a dramatic gasping gesture.

"You look like death warmed up," Jayla whispered as Maya slumped into her desk. "Seriously, even your under-eye bags have under-eye bags."

"Thanks, bestie," Maya mumbled, dropping her head onto her folded arms. "Remind me why I thought taking three AP classes was smart?"

"Because you're Maya Chen, academic weapon," Jayla said, then lowered her voice. "But uh, you might want to fix yourself before HE comes over."

Maya's stomach did that stupid fluttery thing. "Who?"

"Your zombie boyfriend over there." Jayla nodded toward the door, where Caleb walked in looking somehow more exhausted than Maya felt. His dark hair was messier than usual, and he had that intense I-wasn't-made-for-this-timeline expression that made her heart malfunction.

Caleb caught her eye and gave this tiny, exhausted smile. Maya felt her palm start sweating against her backpack strap. This was pathetic. She'd been sitting next to him since September, and she still reacted like a middle schooler with her first crush.

"Your palms are sweating again, aren't they?" Jayla whispered.

"Shut up."

"Want me to ask him if he wants to study with us? Or I could accidentally mention how you helped me with that zombie makeup for Halloween and he was like, 'oh cool, I love horror stuff—'

"NO," Maya hissed, but it was too late because Caleb was already walking toward their desk.

"Hey," he said, voice rough from sleep deprivation. "You got the notes from yesterday? I was at the dentist and completely zoned through whatever Mr. Harrison said about the French Revolution."

"Yeah, obviously," Maya said, suddenly wide awake. "I'll send them to you after class."

"You're a lifesaver." His eyes actually crinkled when he smiled, and Maya felt like she'd mainlined pure dopamine. "Also, my mom's making me take these vitamin D supplements because apparently I never see sunlight anymore. You want one? I have like a thousand in my backpack."

"What?"

"They're grape flavored." He dug into his bag and pulled out a bottle of gummy vitamins, holding them out like it was the most normal thing in the world to offer someone you barely knew your vitamins. "She thinks I'm deficient or something. Want some?"

Maya stared at him. Jayla was making this face beside her, eyebrows raised so high they disappeared under her bangs.

"Sure," Maya heard herself say. "Grape's my favorite."

"Awesome." He shook two into his hand and dropped them onto her desk, their fingers brushing for like, half a second. His hands were warm. Maya's palm was definitely sweating now.

"So uh," Caleb said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was gonna ask—"

The bell rang.

"Dammit." He looked genuinely annoyed. "I'll text you. About the notes. And. Other stuff."

Maya spent the rest of the class staring at the two gummy vitamins on her desk like they held the secrets to the universe. Jayla kept pretending to cough dramatically every time Maya looked at them.

"So," Jayla said the moment they walked into the hallway. "He's offering you his vitamins. That's basically marriage, right?"

"You're the worst," Maya said, but she couldn't stop smiling. "Also, I'm never eating these. I'm keeping them forever."

"You're weird," Jayla said, draping an arm around Maya's shoulders. "But at least you're not a zombie anymore."