Signal Lost

Maya dragged herself through the front door, feeling like a total zombie after finals week. Her brain was mush, her eyelids weighed ten pounds each, and the only thing keeping her upright was the promise of vegging out in her room.

"Maya! Family time!" her mom called from the living room. "Your cousins are here!"

She groaned internally. The last thing she needed was Cousin Tyler asking her about college plans again. But family obligation called, so she zombie-shuffled her way to the living room.

The TV was frozen on some reality show, accompanied by the familiar beep-boop-beep of the cable box acting up. "Third time this week," her dad grumbled, smacking the remote like it owed him money.

"It's definitely the cable," Tyler announced importantly, even though nobody asked. "I work in IT now, by the way."

Maya's pocket buzzed. Her iPhone lit up with a notification from the group chat:

"party @ jess's house btw"

She stared at it. This was it—the first real party of sophomore year, and everyone was going. But her parents had already planned this whole cousin bonding thing, and if she bailed, her mom would give her that disappointed face that made Maya feel guilty for three days straight.

"You okay, Maya?" her little cousin asked, tugging her shirt.

She looked down at the kid, then at her iPhone screen glowing with possibility, then at her parents expecting her to participate in whatever wholesome activity they'd planned.

"Actually," Maya said, her voice stronger than she felt, "I really need to go. Like, right now."

The room went silent. Even the cable seemed to stop glitching.

"But we haven't even started the movie," her mom said.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but..." She paused. "I'm tired of being the person who always says yes to everything. I need to say no to something so I can say yes to myself."

Her dad's eyebrows shot up. Tyler actually looked impressed.

"Wow," said her mom, after a moment. "That was... really mature."

"Can I go?"

"Yes. But you're still grounded for that C in math."

"Fair."

As Maya grabbed her jacket, she caught her reflection in the hallway mirror. The zombie was gone. She looked awake. She looked like someone who just chose herself for once, and honestly? It felt pretty freaking good.