The Hangover Pyramid Scheme

Maya stared at the disaster that was her bedroom floor. Empty energy drink cans formed a chaotic **pyramid** on her desk, a monument to last night's study session gone wrong. Her phone buzzed – Group Chat blew up with memes about someone embarrassing themselves at Jake's party. Obviously.

She'd bailed. Again.

Outside, her neighbor's **cat** yowled like it was dying, which was honestly a mood. Maya popped a **vitamin** D supplement – her mom swore they helped with seasonal depression, but Maya was pretty sure only actual sunlight and maybe having friends would fix whatever this was.

"You going to campus?" her little brother yelled from downstairs. "Or just **running** late as usual?"

"Coming!" Maya grabbed her backpack. College visits weren't supposed to feel this high-stakes, but everyone acted like choosing the wrong school would ruin her entire life forever. The pressure built like a **zombie** apocalypse inside her brain – undead expectations that just wouldn't die.

The bus ride was twenty minutes of overthinking everything. She'd always been the quiet one, the observer, while people like Jake lived loud and fearless. Maybe that was okay. Maybe she didn't need to be the protagonist of every story.

When she finally stepped onto campus, someone caught her eye. A girl with blue hair and a skateboard, sitting alone on a bench reading a book Maya recognized from her English class. Their eyes met. The girl smiled.

"Hey," the girl said. "You look like you're silently judging everyone too."

Maya laughed. "Literally always."

"I'm Riley."

"Maya."

"Wanna get coffee and complain about how overwhelming adulthood is?"

"Absolutely," Maya said. And just like that, the zombie pressure in her brain finally died for real.