When the Zombie Finally Slept

Maya dragged herself through the front door, feeling like a literal zombie after three hours of AP Bio cramming. Junior year was absolutely cooking her, frfr. Her brain cells had officially left the chat.

"You look dead," her little brother Leo observed, helpful as ever.

"Thanks, Leo. Really boosting my confidence." Maya dropped her backpack. "Where's Buster?"

"Your dog escaped to the neighbor's yard again."

Great. Just what she needed. Their golden retriever, Buster, had zero boundaries.

Maya wandered outside, phone buzzing with texts from the group chat. Everyone was at Jessica's party tonight, probably having the time of their lives while she was over here chasing a runaway dog and babysitting her little brother because her parents were working late. Again.

She spotted Buster through the fence, happily accepting belly rubs from their new neighbor, a girl her age with dark curly hair and the most confident vibe Maya had ever witnessed.

"Your dog's hilarious," the girl called out. "He was eating papaya from my compost."

"Papaya? Seriously?" Maya facepalmed. "I'm so sorry. I'm Maya, by the way. And that chaos monster is Buster."

"I'm Zara." The girl grinned. "Want some? The papaya, I mean. Not what Buster was eating."

Maya found herself sitting on Zara's porch, somehow spilling her whole life story about how behind she felt in school, how everyone else seemed to have their aesthetic dialed in while she was still figuring out who she even was. Zara listened, actually listened, and somehow Maya had never felt more seen.

"You know what?" Zara said eventually. "Nobody has it figured out. We're all just zombies pretending to be functional humans."

That made Maya laugh so hard her stomach hurt.

By the time she corralled Buster home, Maya had somehow missed every party FOMO update in the group chat. She'd gained something way better than a couple hours of awkward social standing — she'd made a real friend, papaya bonding and all.

Maybe zombie mode wasn't so bad after all. Sometimes it led you to exactly where you needed to be.