The Zombie Pyramid

Maya dragged herself through first period, feeling like a total zombie. Three hours of sleep would do that to you. Mr. Harrison was rambling about Egypt, something about a pyramid, and she honestly couldn't care less. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

"Psst. Maya."

She turned to find Jake, the cute junior who sat behind her, sliding a folded note onto her desk. Maya felt like a spy intercepting classified intel. The note said: NEED UR HELP. SARAH'S LOCKER COMBO. WILL PAY IN PIZZA.

Sarah Chen, the Instagram-famous sophomore who'd somehow built her own social pyramid at Northwood High, where she sat at the top and everyone else knew their place. Maya had been crushing on Jake since baseball season started, when she'd watched him from the bleachers, pretending to understand the game while actually just admiring how his uniform fit.

"Why me?" Maya whispered back.

"You're in her chem group. I see you guys talking."

"Jake, that's creepy."

"Please. I just need to return her lab notebook before she notices I still have it. If she finds out, I'm dead."

Maya sighed. She'd been feeling like a zombie all week—AP classes were killing her, her friends were drama-ing out over group chat, and she still hadn't figured out who she was supposed to be. But Jake's desperation was actually... kinda cute?

"Fine. But you owe me more than pizza."

"What?"

"Water. From the fountain. I'm dying of thirst. And I want the good baseball seat during next week's game."

Jake's grin could've powered the whole school. "Deal."

Two days later, Maya watched from her usual spot as Jake struck out three batters in a row. Sarah sat in the front row, cheering. Jake winked at Maya as he walked off the field, and something in her chest did a little flip. Maybe high school's pyramid wasn't so rigid after all. Maybe she wasn't just a zombie going through the motions. Maybe—just maybe—she was exactly where she needed to be.