Summer of the Living Dead

The sun beat down on the padel court like it had personal beef with everyone playing. Maya wiped her palm on her shorts—again—and gripped the racket. Her crush, Liam, was watching from the sidelines, and she was playing like a zombie who'd forgotten how to use her arms.

"You good, Maya?" her best friend Jaya yelled from across the net. "You look dead."

"Literally," Maya muttered. She'd stayed up until 3 AM scrolling through Liam's Instagram from 2019. Rookie move.

After the game—which her team lost, obviously—everyone headed to Tyler's house for a pool party. Maya stood at the edge of the water, clutching her towel like a security blanket. Everyone else was already in, laughing and splashing like normal human beings who didn't overthink everything.

"Get in already!" Tyler shouted. "The water's literally perfect."

Maya dipped her toe in. It was cold. Why was it always so cold?

"Um, you okay there?"

She looked up. Liam. Standing right there. Dripping wet, hair everywhere, looking like a model who'd wandered into the wrong backyard.

"Yeah," Maya squeaked. "Just... adjusting. To the temperature."

"Cool." He grinned. "You coming in or what?"

Before she could answer, her little brother Marco pushed her from behind. She tumbled into the pool with an undignified splash, surfacing to everyone laughing. But not mean laughing—like, actually laughing. Even Liam.

"My bad!" Marco called, already running away.

Maya wiped the water from her eyes. Liam reached out a hand to pull her up.

"Sorry about my brother," she said, tucking hair behind her ear. "He's evil."

"It's chill," Liam said. "You okay though?"

"Yeah. I'm good."

"Good." He splashed her. A little. But still.

Maya splashed back.

Later, floating on her back and watching the palm trees sway against the sky, Maya decided something: zombies eventually woke up, and somehow, she was going to survive this summer too.

Even if she still had padel bruises on her shins.