Undead Notifications

Maya's pocket buzzed again. Her iphone was practically vibrating off the table, but she couldn't look. Not with Jordan watching her from across the cafeteria like he was decoding her soul. She'd been crushing on him since seventh period English when he'd dropped his pencil and their fingers had brushed while retrieving it. Romantic? Maybe. Awkward? Definitely.

"Your phone's blowing up," Jordan said, sliding into the seat across from her. "Everything cool?"

"Yeah, just my mom," Maya lied smoothly, though she hadn't actually checked. "She's... thorough."

Her golden retriever, Buster, chose that moment to escape from the backyard and burst into the school courtyard, trailing half a garden hose behind him like a runaway party streamer. The lunch monitor Mrs. Gable was already charging after him, shouting something about " unleashed animals on school property."

Maya's face burned. "That's my—"

"I got him," Jordan said, already up and moving.

She watched as Jordan calmly intercepted Buster, who immediately flopped onto his back for belly rubs like this had been his plan all along. The entire cafeteria was watching, but Jordan just scratched Buster's ears and walked him back to Maya like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Cool dog," Jordan said, dropping into his seat again. "He's chill."

"You too," Maya said, then wanted to die. "I mean—thanks. For—you know."

Jordan's dimples appeared. "No problem. Hey, you coming to Tyler's party tonight? His parents are out of town, he's doing that whole zombie apocalypse theme thing?"

"Maybe," Maya said, though she'd already spent two hours on her zombie costume and planning the perfect moment to finally text Jordan. "You going?"

"Wouldn't miss it." He checked his own phone. "Speaking of, I should probably get your number. In case, you know, zombie stuff happens."

Maya's heart did something complicated in her chest. "Yeah. Totally. For zombie emergencies."

As Jordan typed her number into his contacts, her iphone buzzed again—her mom, actually calling this time. But Maya ignored it. Some things were more important than parental supervision, even if those things were just sitting across from a boy who pet dogs efficiently and made zombie jokes and made Maya feel like maybe, just maybe, high school wouldn't be so terrible after all.