Electric Green

Maya moved through the hallway like a zombie—dead inside, practically sleepwalking through junior year. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Probably another group chat blowing up without her.

"Hey!" Marcus waved from his locker. "We're gaming at my place tonight. Zombie survival mode?"

"Can't," Maya lied. "Homework." Truth was, she was tired of being the zombie bait everyone sacrificed first.

At lunch, she sat with her usual crew. Nina was going on about her new vegan phase, pushing a container of green smoothies on everyone.

"It's just spinach, banana, and almond milk!" Nina insisted. "Try it, it's literally life-changing."

Maya took a sip and nearly gagged. "This tastes like lawn clippings."

Then she saw him—Alex from her English class, sitting two tables away. He was laughing at something, hair falling over his eyes. Lightning struck through her chest, sudden and electric. She'd been crushing on him for months.

As if on cue, Alex looked over and their eyes met. For three seconds, time stopped. Then someone behind Maya yelled her name, she jumped, and smoothie splashed everywhere—all over her white shirt, creating a massive green stain right across her chest.

The entire lunch room erupted. Maya wanted to vanish, become an actual zombie, ANYTHING to escape this moment.

But then Alex was there, handing her napkins. "That's... a look."

"My life is actually a horror movie," she groaned.

"Nah," he grinned. "At least you're not boring."

They talked for the rest of lunch. About everything. About how high school made everyone feel like zombies sometimes, about how her stained shirt was now her battle scar.

"Zombie survival tonight?" Alex asked. "You can be on my team this time."

Maya looked at her spinach-stained shirt, at Alex's smile, at her phone buzzing with Nina's apology texts. For the first time in months, she didn't feel dead inside.

"I'm in," she said. "But I'm picking our survival strategy."