The Zombie Vitamin

Maya had officially entered zombie mode. Three weeks into junior year, and her entire existence had been reduced to AP Bio flashcards, coffee that tasted like despair, and the soul-crushing scroll through TikTok where everyone else seemed to be living their best life while she was barely living at all.

"You look like actual death," Jordan said, sliding into the cafeteria seat opposite her. "Like, if zombies were real, you'd be their queen."

"Thanks, J. Really hitting the supportive bestie vibes today." Maya poked at her mystery meat lunch. "I'm running on two hours of sleep and whatever this is."

"That's why you need this." Jordan pushed a neon orange bottle across the table. "Vitamin D supplements. My mom says I'm deficient, but I'm pretty sure she just wants me to go outside more."

Maya snorted. "Your mom knows you spend six hours a day streaming, doesn't she?"

"Rude." Jordan flipped her hair. "It's five hours. And I'm building a brand."

The moment happened later that afternoon, when Maya was half-asleep in chemistry and Mr. Henderson called on her to explain electron configurations. She'd been staring at the back of Lucas Chen's head—the same Lucas Chen who sat behind her in English and wrote actual poetry in the margins of his notebook—when lightning seemed to strike the room.

Literally. A massive crack of thunder shook the building, and the lights flickered out.

"Everyone stay calm!" Henderson's voice wavered from the dark.

Maya felt something slide across her desk in the chaos. A piece of paper, folded into a tiny football. In the emergency lighting's dim glow, she unfolded it to find a sketch: a zombie version of herself, complete with AP Bio flashcards and coffee cup, captioned "Maya vs. The System." It was signed with a tiny lightning bolt.

She turned around. Lucas was watching her, looking equal parts terrified and hopeful.

"You're really good," she whispered.

"I, uh, notice things," he said, and suddenly the zombie feeling evaporated, replaced by something electric and terrifying and wonderful.

"You should draw more. I'd follow that content."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Way better than Jordan's streaming career."

Lucas laughed, and Maya felt something click into place—not a vitamin from a bottle, but something realer. Something that made her feel alive for the first time in weeks.

The lights came back on. Henderson resumed lecture. But Maya spent the rest of class sneaking notes back and forth, discovering that Lucas Chen noticed way more than she'd realized, and that sometimes the best things weren't on any syllabus.

Later, Jordan would demand the full story and claim she'd called it. But for now, Maya had a new drawing in her pocket and a feeling that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't a zombie after all.

She was just waking up.