Zombie in the Apron

I looked like a zombie. And not the cool Netflix kind—more like the 'stayed up until 3 AM scrolling through Mia's Instagram again' kind. My eyes were basically begging for mercy as I dragged myself through the back door of GreenSip, the world's most pretentious smoothie shop.

'Marcus, you're on spinach duty,' Aisha called out, barely looking up from her phone. She was wearing her 'I'm literally done with everyone' face, which was also her default face.

'Bro, it's literally 7 AM,' I protested, but I already knew I'd lose this argument. Aisha always won arguments. It was her superpower.

I stared at the industrial blender, which contained something resembling radioactive sludge. 'What even IS this?'

'Kale-spinach-spirulina superfood explosion. Some basic white lady ordered it.' She shrugged. 'Welcome to capitalism, bestie.'

I started the blender. The noise was literally deafening, like a dying airplane. Through the window, I saw HER—Mia, walking past the shop, hair perfect, existence flawless. My heart did that annoying thing where it forgot how to function properly.

Then lightning hit. Literally.

CRACK. The entire building went dark. The blender died mid-spinach-explosion. The power was out, and I was trapped in a smoothie shop with radioactive green sludge and the girl of my dreams was literally RIGHT THERE and I looked like a zombie who'd been through a car wash.

'Did you just scream?' Aisha asked, entirely unimpressed.

'No. That was... a battle cry. Very masculine.'

She rolled her eyes so hard I was surprised they didn't fall out. 'There's bottled water in the fridge. Help yourself while we wait for the power to come back.'

I grabbed a water bottle and pressed it against my face, trying to look less like I'd been resurrected from the dead. Mia walked past again. Our eyes met through the glass. She smiled.

I smiled back.

Then I realized I still had spinach in my teeth from sampling the ingredients earlier.

Aisha lost it. She was actually crying. 'This is peak comedy. This is my favorite day ever.'

The lights flickered back on. The blender roared to life. And somewhere in that ridiculous, embarrassing, completely uncool moment, I realized something important: being a teenager was basically just being a zombie, but with better WiFi and more awkward moments involving vegetables.

And honestly? That was okay. Mia had smiled first, after all.