Zombie at the Pool Party

I felt like a literal **zombie** staggering into Maya's backyard bash. Three hours of sleep after finals week will do that to you. My eyes burned, and I was pretty sure my vibe was giving "walking dead" instead of "chill summer fun."

The pool glittered under fairy lights, bodies floating in the blue **water** like bobbing apples. I scanned the crowd for my people, palms sweating. Why did my friends have to be so fashionably late?

"Hey! You made it!" Maya's brother Lucas materialized, holding what had to be the most ridiculous pool floatie ever created—a massive **bear** complete with a cartoonishly friendly grin. "Careful, he bites," Lucas joked, splashing water my way.

I laughed despite myself. Lucas was annoying, but annoying-cute. My sleep-deprived brain was NOT prepared for this.

My phone buzzed. My crew was still fifteen minutes out. Perfect. I grabbed a paper plate from the snack table and loaded up on chips, reaching for what I thought was spinach-artichoke dip—

Wait. Nope. Straight-up **spinach** leaves. Who served literal spinach at a pool party? I took a tentative bite anyway because teenage hunger knows no dignity.

"You good?" Lucas swam over, still lounging on his bear throne.

"Just hungry," I mumbled, praying spinach wasn't stuck in my teeth. "Your floatie is... bold."

"Borrowed it from my little cousin. Judgement noted." He grinned. "Wanna try?"

I hesitated. My social battery was already at 1%. But the bear was beckoning, and Lucas's smile was doing things to my stomach.

I kicked off my flip-flops and slid into the pool, the cool water shocking me awake. Climbing onto the bear next to him felt dangerous and thrilling, like standing too close to the edge of something.

"Not bad," I said, lying back. The bear drifted gently under the **palm** trees Maya's parents had planted around the pool deck. The fairy lights reflected on the water, turning everything soft and golden.

Lucas's arm brushed mine. "You're not really a zombie, you know."

"Could've fooled me."

"Nah." He tilted his head. "You're just tired. There's a difference."

Something in my chest did a little flip.

My phone lit up on the table. My friends were here. I should've been relieved, but for a second, I just wanted to stay here—drifting on this ridiculous bear with a boy who noticed things.

"Your friends are here," Lucas said quietly.

"Yeah." I didn't move.

"You should probably..."

"Yeah. Probably." But I stayed put for one more moment, watching the **water** ripple around us, feeling strangely alive for someone who'd felt dead all day.

The bear, the spinach, the zombies—sometimes the weirdest moments were the ones that woke you up.