Zombie Bears and Bad Hair Days

Maya's straightener was literally murdering her hair. It had been forty-five minutes of careful passes, and the left side was still doing that weird frizzy thing it did when she was stressed. Which she definitely was.

Her iPhone buzzed again on the bathroom counter—probably the group chat blowing up about tonight. *u going???* *ellen said jake's gonna be there* *MAYA*

"Maya! You're going to be late!" her mom yelled from downstairs.

"I know!"

Her cat, Pancakes, chose that exact moment to jump onto the counter and knock her beloved childhood Build-A-Bear—named Mr. Cuddles, because she was seven and uncreative—onto the tile floor with a dramatic thud.

"Pancakes, what is WRONG with you?" Maya grabbed the bear before her cat could decide it was a new toy. Mr. Cuddles had seen better days. His fur was matted in places from too many hugs, his button eye hung by a thread, and he still smelled like that vanilla scent she'd picked at the store. She'd planned to secretly retire him to the back of her closet years ago, but somehow he always ended up back on her bed.

Whatever. Jake was nice. Jake wouldn't care about a childhood bear or her hair that refused to cooperate. Jake was the kind of guy who probably had his life together.

She was heading out the door when her phone blew up with a notification: *ZOMBIE WALK DOWNTOWN—ALL MAIN STREETS CLOSED 5-7PM*

"Are you kidding me?"

Her parents were already gone, so she had to bike downtown through absolute chaos. People in full zombie makeup were everywhere—blood dripping from fake wounds, clothes torn, arms outstretched in that classic shuffle. Someone had a zombie bear on a leash. An actual zombie bear.

She locked her bike to a rack and spotted Jake waiting outside the movie theater, wearing a button-down that was somehow both casual and formal. He waved, then his eyes went wide as a particularly elaborate zombie lumbered past.

"I feel like I'm underdressed," he said, and Maya laughed so hard she almost forgot about her hair.

They ended up talking about everything—school, the way his cat refused to sleep anywhere except his laundry basket, how he still had his childhood stuffed rabbit. Maya's chest felt light in a way it hadn't in months.

"So," Jake said as they walked to their bikes, "what was the deal with the bear?"

"What bear?"

"The zombie bear?"

"Oh." Maya smiled. "No, that wasn't mine. But I do have a bear named Mr. Cuddles who my cat tried to murder today."

Jake's grin was everything. "Same. My bear's name is Mr. Snuggles, and my dog thinks he's a chew toy."

Her iPhone buzzed in her pocket. *ellen: HOW DID IT GO???*

Maya ignored it.

"You want to hang out tomorrow?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," she said, and realized her hair had gotten kind of messy during the bike ride. She couldn't bring herself to care. "Yeah, I'd love that."