The Zombie Who Couldn't Hit

Max's messy brown hair always stuck up like he'd just rolled out of bed — which he usually had. Every morning, his mom tried to tame it with combs and water, but Max's hair had a mind of its own. It bounced when he ran. It danced when he laughed. And today, it was standing straight up because Max had something BIG to do.

The neighborhood baseball championship!

Max grabbed his favorite bat and ran to the field. All his friends were already there, picking teams. But there was one person standing alone at the edge of the playground — a new kid named Zara. She wore ragged clothes, moved stiffly like a robot, and mumbled "brains" whenever someone asked her a question.

"She's a zombie!" whispered Lily, clutching her glove tight. "Zombies can't play baseball."

Max looked at Zara. She DID seem strange. But she also looked lonely. And Max's dad always said, "Real friends aren't just the people who are LIKE you. They're the people who NEED you."

"Want to be on my team?" Max called out.

Zara's eyes widened. She nodded slowly and shuffled over.

The game began. Max's team was losing badly. It was the bottom of the ninth inning (even though they only played six). Bases loaded. Two outs. Max stepped up to the plate. He swung HARD and missed. Strike one. He swung again. Strike two.

One more strike and they'd lose.

Max's palms were sweaty. His heart pounded like a drum. Then he felt Zara tap his shoulder.

"Hair," she mumbled, pointing at his head.

"What?"

"Your HAIR," Zara said more clearly. "It's lucky. It told me."

Max blinked. No one had ever called his messy hair LUCKY before. But Zara sounded so serious that he actually believed her.

He stepped back up to the plate, feeling his lucky hair bouncing in the wind. He closed his eyes, pictured the ball flying, and — SWING!

CRACK!

The ball sailed higher and higher, over the fence, past the trees, into someone's backyard!

"HOME RUN!" everyone shouted!

Max's team won! His friends lifted him onto their shoulders. But Max wriggled down and ran toward Zara.

"You did it!" he said. "How did you know about my hair?"

Zara smiled, and for the first time, she didn't look stiff or strange at all. "I've got messy hair too," she said, pulling off her hat to reveal wild, wonderful curls. "My mom says crazy hair means crazy adventures. And my FIRST name is Zoe, but everyone calls me Zara because my little sister couldn't say Zoe."

"Brains," finished her sister, running onto the field.

"Not ZOMBIE, you goofball — ZARA!" Zara laughed.

The whole team laughed with her.

That afternoon, Max learned something important: sometimes the scariest-looking people are just the best friends you haven't met yet. And sometimes, the thing you thought was your BIGGEST weakness (like impossible, wild hair) is actually your SUPERPOWER.

From that day on, Max and Zara were always on the same team. And somehow, they always won — maybe because they played well, and maybe because Max's hair REALLY WAS lucky after all.