The Zombie Who Couldn't Swim

Maya felt like a literal zombie. She'd spent all night marathon-watching The Walking Dead instead of sleeping, and now here she was at Jake's pool party, operating on two hours of sleep and an energy drink that was wearing off fast.

"You good?" asked Chloe, sliding onto the lounge chair next to her. Chloe's orange bikini was bright against the turquoise water, everything about her screaming *I belong here*. Maya tugged at her own cover-up, feeling like she was wearing a sign that said *I'm only here because my mom made me come*.

"Just tired," Maya mumbled, watching Jake across the pool. He was doing that thing where he splashed water everywhere, laughing with his shirt off, being Jake. Being *unreachable*.

Chloe followed her gaze. "Still spying on him, huh?"

"I'm not—" Maya started, then gave up. "Okay, yes. But 'spying' sounds creepy. I'm... observing from a distance. Like a scientist."

"A scientist who's definitely gonna make a move today?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.

Maya's stomach did that thing it always did when she thought about actually talking to Jake. The kind of feeling that could make you glad you hadn't eaten yet. "I don't know. What if I say something dumb? What if he thinks I'm weird?"

"Weird is good," Chloe said. "Normal is boring. Jake's the kind of guy who'd appreciate weird."

Just then, Jake yelled, "BEAR POND CHALLENGE!" and everyone rushed toward the deep end. There was this old local legend about a bear that fell into someone's pond years ago, and Jake's family had turned it into this thing where you had to jump in holding your nose and make a bear noise. It was ridiculous. It was *so* Jake.

"You coming?" Chloe stood up, already reaching for her sunglasses.

Maya looked at the water shimmering in the afternoon sun, at Jake waiting for everyone to join, at Chloe giving her that *you got this* look. And honestly? The zombie feeling was fading, replaced by something else. Something that felt like courage.

"Yeah," Maya said, standing up. "Yeah, I'm coming."

She jumped into the cool blue water, made the worst bear noise ever, and when she came up laughing and Jake flashed her that grin across the pool, Maya thought: maybe being a zombie wasn't so bad if it meant you could come back to life for moments like this.