Poolside Zombies

I felt like a zombie. Not the cool, TV-show kind with awesome makeup and dramatic storylines. I mean the dead-inside, can't-feel-my-face, finals-week kind that comes from staying up till 4 AM scrolling through TikTok instead of studying chemistry.

"Maya! You made it!" Tyler's voice cut through my fog as I stumbled into his backyard party. His house had that perfect suburban vibe — string lights, inflatable pool, and palm trees swaying like they owned the place.

I spotted Chloe by the snacks, looking flawless in her bikini while I stood there in my oversized tee and board shorts, feeling like a certified mess. Chloe and I had been best friends since seventh grade, but lately? Everything felt different. She'd joined the popular crowd, started going to parties every weekend, while I was still the same awkward overthinker who'd rather binge-watch Netflix than socialize.

"Hey," I mumbled, grabbing a water bottle because hydration was the only self-care I could manage.

"You look exhausted," she said, but not in a mean way. Her usual perfect-friend energy softened into something real. "Rough week?"

"You have no idea." I sighed, deciding to be honest for once. "I've been a zombie all week. Finals are gonna end me."

Chloe laughed, and it wasn't her fake popular-girl laugh either. This was the real one — the one from back when we'd have sleepovers and talk about boys and life and our biggest fears. "Join the club. I've been faking being fine since May."

I froze. Chloe? Faking it? Miss Perfect had been struggling too?

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." She stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Everyone expects me to be 'on' all the time. It's exhausting." She reached out and squeezed my hand, her palm warm against mine. "I miss you, Maya. I miss how we could just be real with each other."

Something shifted between us in that moment. All those walls I'd built up, all those assumptions I'd made about how she'd changed — they crumbled. We weren't zombies going through the motions anymore. We were just two tired, stressed, authentic teenagers trying to figure it out.

"Wanna get out of here?" I asked. "We could go get boba and actually talk?"

Chloe's face lit up. "Absolutely."

As we slipped away from the party, I realized something important: friendship isn't about being perfect or always having it together. It's about showing up as your zombie self and finding someone who loves you anyway.