The Zombie Fox Protocol

Maya felt like a straight-up zombie. Three hours of sleep after binge-watching that show everyone was talking about would do that to you. But when your crush invites you to their first party since moving to your school, you don't say no. You just mainline coffee and pray you don't face-plant in front of everyone.

The party was at Sarah's house—her family had a pool, which explained why half the sophomore class was currently in various states of undress, jumping into the water like their lives depended on it. Maya stood on the deck in her cutoffs and oversized band tee, feeling painfully aware that she was the only one not swimming.

"Hey!" Sarah appeared beside her, dripping wet and grinning like she'd just won the lottery. "You coming in or what?"

"Maybe," Maya lied, already calculating how soon she could bail without looking lame.

Then she saw him. Jake. The reason she was currently operating on zero sleep and pure adrenaline. He was laughing at something someone said, his hair wet from the water, and Maya's stomach did that embarrassing flip thing it always did when he was around.

She turned to escape, maybe grab another punch she didn't want, when her foot caught on someone's discarded towel. Suddenly she was running forward to catch herself, arms windmilling, dignity officially gone.

But instead of face-planting, she kept running. Straight toward the back fence. Because apparently her body had decided that falling was worse than just... leaving.

"Maya?" Jake's voice behind her.

She didn't stop. She scrambled over the fence and landed in someone's backyard, heart hammering like she'd just completed a marathon. That's when she saw it—a real fox, just sitting there, watching her with these calm, knowing eyes like it saw terrified teens escaping awkward parties every day.

The fox tilted its head, then melted back into the bushes without a sound.

Maya sat in the grass, breathless, and started laughing. Like, actually laughing. Because what even was her life?

"You okay?" Jake's voice came from over the fence. "I saw you... booking it."

She looked up at him leaning over the fence, still smiling, and realized maybe—just maybe—this night wasn't a total disaster after all.

"Yeah," she said, grinning despite herself. "Just following the fox protocol. You know how it is."

Jake laughed. "Honestly? Same."