When Papaya Met Zombie

Maya's counselor called it 'self-discovery week.' Maya called it 'whatever.' She sat on the dock, feet dangling in the cold lake water, staring at her iphone like it held the answers to the universe. Her friends back home were posting stories about beach parties and food runs, while she was stuck at Camp Pine Lake eating whatever the cafeteria called papaya — which, honestly, looked like alien something someone had already chewed.

Then she saw him. Jake. The cabin's resident cool guy. He was doing something weird at the edge of the woods, making these jerky, robotic motions, arms flailing like a malfunctioning zombie.

Maya snorted before she could stop herself.

Jake froze. Slowly, he turned toward her, then cracked up. 'I was trying to learn that TikTok dance,' he called out. 'Clearly, I'm zombie-ing through it.' He walked over, dropping onto the dock beside her. His hair was damp, sweatshirt sleeves pushed up. 'You think camp food is rough? Wait till you see the homemade trail mix. It's like gravel and despair.'

They sat there for an hour, talking about nothing and everything. Jake confessed he only came to camp because his mom thought he needed to 'bear some responsibility.' Maya admitted she applied because she wanted something to put on her college applications that sounded deeper than 'volunteered at my dad's office.'

'This papaya is actually a war crime,' Jake said, poking at a fruit cup with his spoon.

'Don't even get me started.'

Later that night, under stars so bright they felt fake, they climbed onto the roof of the rec hall. No phones. Just them and the sound of water lapping at the shore below.

'You know what's wild?' Jake said, his voice soft. 'I came here feeling like a zombie, just going through the motions. But this — this is actually not terrible.'

Maya's stomach did that little flip thing. 'Yeah,' she said. 'Not terrible at all.'

Her iphone buzzed in her pocket — probably another notification from her friends back home. She didn't check it. Some things were better left unanswered.