Fox in a Zombie Room

Maya tugged at her fox ears, feeling ridiculous. She'd spent three hours on this costume—copper-orange crop top, a tail that actually wagged when she walked—but now that she was actually at Tyler's Halloween party, she just felt like a loser trying too hard.

Inside, the basement pulsed with crappy pop music and smelled like cheap body spray and desperation. Everyone was already zombie-level wasted, grinding and flirting with that practiced confidence Maya had been trying to fake since freshman year. She grabbed a red Solo cup from the table, peering at the mysterious greenish contents.

"That's spinach dip," a voice said behind her. "Unless you're into drinking your vegetables."

Maya spun around and there was Luke—Luke from AP Bio, who she'd been lowkey obsessed with since September. He wasn't even wearing a costume, just his usual flannel and that effortlessly messy dark hair that made her stomach do actual gymnastics.

"I'm, uh, pretending to be healthy," Maya managed, her face suddenly three degrees warmer. "Cool party."

"It's a disaster," Luke said, gesturing at a couple aggressively making out in the corner. "Tyler's parents are gonna lose their minds when they see the carpet. You want to bounce?"

Maya's brain short-circuited. Luke wanted to leave with HER? But before she could answer, Tyler—this massive football player who was literally dressed as a bear—stumbled into them, spilling something gross all over Maya's fox tail.

"Yo, my bad!" Tyler yelled, way too loud. "Nice costume, you're like, a really hot fox or something."

Maya wanted to melt into the basement carpet and never emerge.

Luke just laughed, though, and gently grabbed her wrist. "Come on. Let's get some air."

They ended up sitting on the front porch in the cold November air, sharing actual spinach dip from a takeaway container Luke swiped from the kitchen. He told her he hated parties, that he only came because his mom made him socialize more, that he thought Maya's fox costume was actually kind of brilliant because foxes were sneaky and smart and didn't care what anyone thought.

"You're not like everyone else," Luke said quietly, when the conversation died down. "That's a good thing."

Maya took off her fox ears and let them dangle from her wrist. For the first time all night, she didn't feel like a zombie going through the motions. She felt real.