Dead Battery, Alive

Maya's iphone died at 11:47 PM on a Tuesday—right as she was doomscrolling through everyone's perfect lives. Again. Her thumb kept swiping at the black screen like a zombie searching for brains, which was honestly ironic considering she'd spent the past week running on caffeine and three hours of sleep.

"You look like actual death," said Jayden, sliding into the cafeteria seat beside her and pushing an orange toward her. "Eat this. It has actual vitamins in it, not whatever that yellow energy drink is."

Maya peeled the orange, citrus mist spraying like perfume. "Bro, I'm fine. Just been grinding for finals. Also, my social battery died before my phone did."

"You sure? Because you literally just stared at that empty lunch table for three full minutes like it owed you money."

He wasn't wrong. Everything felt gray and heavy lately, like she was moving through a fog. School felt pointless. College applications felt impossible. Her parents kept asking what she wanted to do with her life, and the honest answer was: sleep for a week and then maybe figure out who she actually was when she wasn't trying to be who everyone expected.

The zombie analogy wasn't far off. She was walking and talking and functioning, but inside? Dead inside.

"My mom found me studying at 3 AM again," Maya said, finally taking a bite of the orange. "She gave me this whole speech about burning out, handed me these giant vitamin D pills because apparently I never see sunlight anymore."

Jayden laughed. "Okay, but you really don't. You're basically a vampire, but instead of blood, you suck the joy out of everyone around you with your constant stress-ball energy."

Maya threw an orange peel at him. For the first time in weeks, something in her chest loosened. Maybe it was the random act of fruit-based friendship. Maybe it was the vitamin C finally hitting her bloodstream. Or maybe—just maybe—it was the realization that she didn't have to have everything figured out.

Her phone stayed dead in her pocket all afternoon. And somehow, she didn't even mind.