Goldfish in the Zombie Apocalypse

Maya stared at the orange prescription bottle on her bathroom counter. Vitamin D supplements—her mom's latest attempt to fix whatever was "wrong" with her. The bathroom mirror reflected a girl with frizzy curls and braces who felt like she was faking her way through sophomore year.

"Maya! You're going to be late!" her mom yelled from downstairs.

She grabbed her iPhone and scrolled through TikTok as she walked to school, drowning out her thoughts with other people's perfect lives. That's when she saw it: Dylan's party post. Everyone was going. Everyone except her, probably.

"You're coming, right?" Chloe demanded at lunch, sliding onto the cafeteria bench next to Maya. "It's gonna be legendary."

"I don't know..." Maya picked at her food. Parties weren't exactly her thing. She preferred hanging out with her cat, Mochi, and watching zombie shows until 3 AM.

"You're NOT going to be a loser forever," Chloe said, way too loudly. "I'm picking you up at 9."

The party was everything Maya hated: strobe lights, bass that made her chest hurt, people she'd known since kindergarten acting like they were in a music video. She felt like a zombie moving through the chaos, dead inside while everyone else seemed so alive.

She escaped to the backyard and found Dylan's younger sister sitting cross-legged by a pond, watching a goldfish swim lazy circles.

"Hey," Maya said, feeling awkward.

"This fish has a three-second memory," the girl said without looking up. "Lucky, right? Imagine forgetting everything embarrassing almost instantly."

Maya sat beside her. "That would be nice."

"You're Maya, right?" The girl finally looked at her—DYLAN'S SISTER had those observant eyes that saw too much. "Dylan said you're into zombie stuff."

"Yeah."

"Cool. I'm Riley." She pulled out her iPhone. "Wanna watch zombie makeup tutorials instead of whatever's happening in there?"

Maya smiled for the first time all night. "Absolutely."

They spent the rest of the party on the patio, watching tutorials and laughing so hard her stomach hurt. When Chloe found them later, she looked confused.

"Are you having fun?"

Maya looked at Riley—her new friend who got it, who didn't make her feel like a weirdo for preferring the porch over the party.

"Actually," Maya said, "yeah. I really am."

For the first time in forever, she didn't feel like a zombie anymore. She was just Maya, and that was enough.