Dead Walking

Maya pulled her dad's oversized beanie down to her eyebrows, the hat serving as both shield and disguise. Another Friday night at Tyler's party, another round of feeling like the absolute worst kind of zombie—scrolling through her iPhone while actual humans danced three feet away.

"You good?"

She jumped. It was Leo, that quiet skater boy from pre-calc. His hair was wet from the rain outside, and he looked just as out of place as she felt.

"Yeah," Maya lied, shoving her phone deeper into her hoodie pocket. "Just... recharging."

Leo nodded like he actually got it. "I feel like I've been moving through molasses all week. Zombie mode, you know?"

She cracked a real smile for the first time that night. "Literally me."

Outside, the sky cracked open—lightning flashed purple-white, illuminating the whole house in this strobe-light freeze frame. For one split second, Maya saw everything differently: Tyler's desperate grin, the spill on the carpet, the way Leo was looking at her like she was actually interesting.

Then the power died.

Total darkness. Forty teenagers screamed collectively, someone dropped what sounded like a phone, and in the chaos, Leo's hand found her arm.

"You okay?" he asked, and his voice was closer than she expected.

"Yeah," she said, and realized she meant it. "I think I am."

They ended up on the back porch, sitting in the semi-darkness while the storm raged. No phones, no pretending, no performing coolness for an audience. Just lightning painting the sky every thirty seconds like it was trying to tell them something.

"My therapist says I'm addicted to the zombie scroll," Maya admitted, watching the rain. "Like, I'd rather watch other people live their best lives on video than actually have one."

Leo nodded slowly. "I started leaving my iPhone at home on purpose. First day? Nearly had a panic attack. But second day? I noticed stuff. Real stuff."

Another lightning strike—closer this time.

"Maybe," Maya said, thinking out loud, "we've been zombies this whole time without even realizing it."

"Or," Leo suggested, "we're just waking up."

She pulled the hat off, letting her messy hair actually exist in the world. Her iPhone stayed in her pocket. Somewhere inside, the party raged on, but out here? Everything felt suddenly, terrifyingly alive.

"Yeah," Maya said. "I think I'm done being dead."