Dead Battery, Alive

I felt like a **zombie** walking into first period, running on three hours of sleep and existential dread. Junior year was absolutely cooked.

My **iPhone** buzzed in my pocket — probably Maya finally replying to my text from literal yesterday. I'd spent all night overthinking whether sending that meme was weird, if the timing was off, if she'd think I was trying too hard. The usual spiral.

Then I saw her at her locker, and my stomach did that thing where it forgets how to be an organ. She was laughing with Tyler, whose hair somehow defied physics in ways mine never would. I reached for my phone like a security blanket, thumbs hovering over the screen, ready to doomscroll through TikToks I'd already seen.

That's when the sky opened up.

No joke — actual **lightning** flashed, and suddenly it was pouring. Everyone was scrambling for cover, books over heads, chaos in the hallway. Maya got separated from her friends, stuck under the tiny overhang by the gym entrance.

This was it. The moment. The universe literally orchestrating my rom-com era.

I walked over, hyper-aware of everything. My awkward stride. The fact that my hoodie was probably inside out. That I was about to say something and it would be mid at best.

"Hey," I managed. Smooth. Chef's kiss. "Want to share my umbrella?"

"You don't have an umbrella," she said, grinning.

"Right. Obviously. My bad. Would you believe I'm testing a new skincare routine and **water** is like, actually great for my pores?"

Maya laughed. Actually laughed. Not the polite kind.

"You're so weird," she said. "But yeah, come here."

We stood shoulder to shoulder while rain pounded the pavement, and I pulled out my phone to show her this video of a cat failing a jump attempt. Battery at 4%. Classic.

"Wait," she said, grabbing my wrist. "Is that a gummy **vitamin** D?"

"Yeah, I literally cannot deal with sunlight without my daily supplement. I'm basically a vampire, but less cool."

"You know," Maya said, looking at me with those eyes that made my brain short-circuit, "I've been meaning to text you back. I just... overthought it."

The lightning flashed again, illuminating everything. And in that moment, feeling like the luckiest zombie on earth, I realized maybe we were all just faking it together.