Orange Nights and Zombie Friends

Maya pressed her forehead against the cool window of the bus, watching the blur of streetlights. Her iphone burned in her pocket, a constant reminder that she'd missed Yet Another Group Chat. Three notifications. Maybe four. Everyone was at Kai's party tonight—everyone except her.

Her mom had grounded her for "disrespect" when she'd rolled her eyes at dinner. Classic. Now here she was, Friday night of junior year, sitting at home like a total loser.

"You're walking like a zombie," her little brother Leo had said earlier.

"Not now, Leo."

"Seriously. You look like one of those things from your phone games. All dead inside."

That hit harder than she wanted to admit. Because wasn't that exactly what she felt like? Some zombie version of herself, going through motions, posting stories, sending streaks, keeping up with the algorithm until she forgot what she actually liked.

When she got home, the house was dark. Her mom was working late again. Maya raided the fridge and found an orange in the crisper drawer—something about the color made her feel less dead inside. She peeled it in the kitchen, letting the citrus scent cut through the heavy silence.

Her phone buzzed. Sasha.

"ditching the party. everyone's being fake anyway. come over?"

Maya's thumb hovered. She could go. She could pretend everything was normal. Or she could say what she'd been thinking for months now.

"can we just... sit?" she typed. "like, actually talk? without our phones?"

"yes. thank GOD. been waiting for u to say that"

Sasha showed up twenty minutes later with her cat, Mochi, in a carrier. "My mom's on my case about grades again. Needed an escape."

They sat on Maya's front porch, sharing the orange segments in the sticky summer heat. Mochi purred between them, unbothered by teenage drama.

"I feel like a zombie most days," Maya admitted quietly. "Just doing whatever I'm supposed to do."

Sasha nodded slowly. "Me too. But not tonight. Tonight we're just... us."

They stayed there until midnight, talking about everything and nothing. No screens, no filters, no performing for an audience. Just two friends and a cat, sharing an orange under the porch light, feeling more alive than they had in months.

Maya's iphone stayed in her pocket the whole time. For once, she didn't care what she was missing.