Party Zombies and Green Smoothies

Maya stood pressed against the kitchen island at Jake's party, clutching her **iphone** like a lifeline. Thirteen notifications lit up her screen — mostly irrelevant group chats and Instagram stories she'd already seen three times. Around her, the living room had transformed into what her older brother would call a zombie apocalypse: thirty teens moving in synchronized patterns, heads tilted downward, faces illuminated by blue light, thumbs swiping in that unconscious rhythm that meant nobody was actually present.

"Hey, you want some of this?"

Maya jumped. Jake stood there, holding out a bright green smoothie. His eyes flicked to her phone, then back to her face, and she felt the weird heat of being caught.

"What's in it?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"**Spinach**, banana, and..." He squinted at the blender. "I think coconut water? My mom's on this health kick again."

She took it. The first sip was shocking — not terrible, just aggressively green. Like drinking a garden that knew exactly what it was doing.

"You good?" Jake asked, leaning against the counter beside her. "You've been hiding in here for like twenty minutes."

Maya's face burned. "I'm not hiding. I'm... strategically positioned."

He laughed, and it wasn't mean. "For what? Waiting for the **zombie** apocalypse to actually start? Because honestly, look at them." He nodded toward the living room, where the phone zombies continued their mindless scrolling. "We're the only ones actually talking. It's kinda wild."

She followed his gaze and saw it for the first time — not as a party she was failing at, but as something strange and artificial. The realization hit her like cold water.

"My cousin sent me this recipe," Jake said, gesturing to the blender. "She's in Bali doing some wellness retreat thing. Says they drink **papaya** and spinach smoothies every morning for 'radiance.' I think she's just trying to sell me on some multi-level marketing scheme, but whatever."

Maya found herself smiling. Actually smiling, not the performant half-smile she'd been giving people all night.

"Is it working?" she asked. "The radiance thing?"

"Nah." He gestured to his dark circles. "I've been up since 5 AM finishing a history paper that was due yesterday. I'm operating on pure desperation and this weird green sludge."

Something in her chest loosened. The impossible standards she'd been holding herself to all night — the right outfit, the right friends, the right Instagram caption — suddenly felt ridiculous.

"You know what," she said, pulling her phone from her pocket and placing it face-down on the counter. "I think I'll try some more of that spinach stuff."

Jake's grin was genuine. "Welcome to the resistance, Maya. We've got terrible smoothies and actual conversation. It's pretty wild out here."