The Zombie Bull Protocol

Maya's iPhone 13 vibrated against her hip for the third time in five minutes. Another group chat blowup. Someone was mad about someone else's Instagram story, and the whole sophomore class was taking sides like their lives depended on it.

"You look like a zombie," Kai said, dropping onto the bench beside her. "Honest to God. Dead eyes, pale skin, the whole deal."

"Thanks, Kai. Really. That's the glow-up I was going for."

"No, for real though. You haven't slept since—when? The incident?"

Maya didn't want to talk about the incident. Friday night. Emily's birthday party. The truth or dare game that went off the rails. The dare that somehow ended with Maya face-to-face with Old Man Henderson's prize bull in his pasture at 2 AM. The bull hadn't chased her. It had just stared at her with those big, dopey, beautiful eyes while she crept closer, mesmerized, phone camera rolling, planning to post the most legendary story ever.

But she'd tripped. Her iPhone had flown. The bull had snorted. And somehow—some WAY that still defied explanation—she'd ended up viral on TikTok. #zombiegirl versus #bull went semi-nationally viral in like, three hours. People were calling her Zombie Bull Girl now.

"Everyone's asking for the full video," Kai said. "You know. The part where you actually pet it."

"I didn't pet it."

"That's not what the comments say."

Maya groaned and dropped her head into her hands. Her notifications kept piling up. People who'd never spoken to her before suddenly wanted to be besties. The social hierarchy had flipped overnight. The zombie meme had made her the most talked-about person at school, and she hadn't even wanted it.

Her phone buzzed again. A DM from the actual Emily, whose party had started it all.

"So," Emily wrote. "Are we cool? Or are you still mad about the dare?"

Maya stared at the screen. She could keep being the victim of the prank that launched her into accidental fame. Or she could own it.

She typed back: "We're cool. But next time? The bull gets a turn picking the dare."

"Deal 😂"

Maya pocketed her phone and stood up. She was still tired. She was still kind of a zombie. But at least now she was the one writing the story.