First Day in Zombie Mode

Maya stared at her reflection, obsessing over every strand of frizzy hair that refused to cooperate with the expensive curling wand she'd begged her mom to buy. Junior year at a new school, and she was already hyperventilating over first impressions. Her golden retriever, Buster, nudged her leg with his wet nose, probably wondering why she'd been up since 5 AM having a mid-life crisis at sixteen.

"You think this hat makes me look like I'm trying too hard?" Maya asked Buster. He thumped his tail, completely unhelpful.

The black beanie with the embroidered lightning bolt was supposed to be her armor. A confidence boost. Instead, she felt like a poser.

Her phone buzzed — group chat exploding with memes and "good luck" messages from her old friends back in Oregon. She typed "thanks besties 💕" but her hands shook. What if she couldn't make new ones? What if she ate alone in the cafeteria? The social hierarchy nightmares were already playing in her head like a horror movie on repeat.

After pulling two all-nighters in a row obsessing over outfits and rehearsing introductions in her mirror, Maya was running on pure adrenaline and caffeine. She felt like a zombie — dead inside but somehow still functioning. Her dad had caught her at 3 AM, face illuminated by her phone screen, and muttered something about sleep deprivation turning her into an actual walking corpse.

Buster trotted beside her to the door, histags jingling like a tiny goodbye bell. "Wish me luck, boy," she whispered, scratching behind his ears the way he loved.

The walk to school felt like a death march. Every group of laughing students she passed made her stomach flip-flop. But then she saw her — a girl with purple streaks in her hair sitting alone on a bench, reading a manga. The girl looked up, caught Maya staring, and smiled.

"Nice hat," the girl said. "I dig the lightning bolt."

Maya's fingers instinctively touched the beanie. "Thanks. I, uh, I'm Maya. New here."

"I'm Riley. Want me to show you where the cafeteria is? And more importantly, which lunch lines to avoid?"

For the first time all morning, Maya breathed. Maybe junior year wouldn't be so bad after all. Even in zombie mode, she might actually survive this.