Poolside Zombie

Maya felt like a **zombie** as she trudged toward the Reynolds' pool party. Three hours of sleep after finishing her AP History project would do that to you. She pulled her baseball cap lower, the brim **running** with sweat from the July heat, and hoped nobody would notice the dark circles under her eyes.

"You good?" Liam asked, appearing beside her with that effortless smile that made her stomach do flips.

"Yeah. Just tired." Maya adjusted her **hat**, suddenly self-conscious. "You know how it is."

"Straight **fox**." He pointed at the rust-colored creature darting through the manicured bushes. "Think it's looking for a snack?"

Maya laughed. "Probably just trying to survive, like the rest of us."

They reached the **pool**, where half the sophomore class was already splashing around, music bumping, someone passing chips. Maya's anxiety spiked. She'd been crushing on Liam since February, and here she was, looking like death, wearing her oldest swimsuit under cutoffs, while everyone else looked like they'd stepped out of a TikTok fit check.

"Want to jump?" Liam grinned, already pulling off his shirt.

Maya's heart raced. She'd barely spoken to him all year, and suddenly they were alone at the edge of everything, the cool water beckoning, her zombie brain screaming danger but her chest bursting with something else—something warm and terrifying and wonderful.

"Race you," she said, and before she could overthink it, she was **running**, diving in, the shock of cold water washing away the exhaustion, the fear, everything except this moment—Liam splashing beside her, both of them surfacing gasping and grinning, the fox watching from the bushes, and for the first time all summer, Maya felt completely, brilliantly awake.