Zombie Dog Walk Bad Hair Day

The hair disaster happened on a Tuesday. That was the first problem.

"It's... bold," Maya had said, staring at my reflection in the cafeteria mirror. Bold was code for "I can't believe you actually did that." I'd dyed my hair midnight blue at 2 AM after my breakup with Jordan—poor impulse control meets TikTok tutorial.

By Friday, I was operating on approximately three hours of sleep total. Junior year was eating me alive. I shuffled through the hallways like a actual zombie, my blue hair now faded to a weird grayish-green that made people ask if I was okay.

"You look like you've been binge-watching The Walking Dead instead of studying," my best friend Riya said, sliding into the seat next to me at lunch. "AP Chem is tomorrow, by the way."

"I'm aware," I mumbled, picking at my sandwich. "My brain is mush."

That's when my phone buzzed. Mrs. Henderson from next door: "Could you please walk Buster? Emergency at work."

Buster was her golden retriever—basically a cloud of sunshine with paws. I needed this.

But Buster had other plans. The moment I clipped on his leash, he spotted a squirrel across the street and took off like he'd been shot out of a cannon. I stumbled after him, my zombie limbs sluggish, my weird hair probably wild.

"Buster, stop!" I yelled, dignity officially gone.

A group of seniors from my history class sat on their porch, watching. Including Tyler, who I'd been lowkey crushing on for months. Great.

Buster finally gave up on the squirrel and trotted back, tongue lolling, like nothing had happened. I knelt in the grass to pet him, suddenly laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. The absurdity of it all—blue-green hair, sleep-deprived zombie mode, being dragged across the neighborhood by a dog who weighed more than I did.

Tyler came over. "You okay?"

"Never better," I said, and meant it. "Just having a moment with Buster here."

He smiled. "Your hair looks cool, by the way. Different."

Maybe terrible hair days and zombie weeks were just part of it. Maybe you didn't have to have it together all the time. Buster licked my face, and I decided to just let myself be messy for a while.