Dead Battery, Alive

Maya was officially a **zombie**. Three consecutive nights of finishing her AP Bio presentation had turned her into the walking dead. She shuffled through the crowded hallway, eyes half-lidded, clutching her **iPhone** like a lifeline.

"Yo May, you good?" Marcus called, falling into step beside her. "You look like you haven't slept since 2019."

"Rude but accurate," Maya managed, though her brain was still buffering. Her lock screen kept lighting up — texts from the group chat, Insta notifications, that one cute sophomore from English liking her story for the third time today. She should feel flattered, right? Instead, she just felt exhausted by the performance.

The pressure was real. Everyone expected her to be on top of her grades, her social media, her entire carefully curated aesthetic. It was like she was **running** a marathon she'd never signed up for.

"You coming to Jordan's party?" Marcus asked. "He's finally letting people into his basement. Legendary setup."

Maya's thumb hovered over her screen. The polite thing, the cool thing, the thing that maintained her carefully balanced social ecosystem — say yes. Show up. Take aesthetic pics. Caption something low-effort but witty.

Instead, she typed: Actually, gonna crash. Need to sleep for like 12 hours straight.

Hit send before she could overthink it.

"Wow," Marcus said, reading over her shoulder. "Bold move, Williams. Very bold."

Maya reached into her backpack and pulled out her favorite beanie — the oversized navy one that covered half her forehead and somehow made everything feel less overwhelming. She tugged the **hat** down low.

"Whatever. My brain is literally soup right now."

"No shame, honestly." Marcus bumped her shoulder. "Catch you Monday though?"

"Yeah. Monday."

Maya watched her battery percentage dip to 12% and felt weirdly okay with it. For once, she wasn't performing. She was just a tired human in a comfortable hat, **running** on fumes and choosing herself.

The **iPhone** buzzed one more time, but Maya tucked it deep in her pocket and kept walking.