Zombie Lightning

I'd been a **zombie** all week, thanks to finals and my mom's new regime of morning **vitamin** shots that tasted like radioactive orange juice. Three hours of sleep, two failed math tests, and zero rizz gained.

But tonight? Tonight was Jordan's party, and I was finally gonna shoot my shot.

I leaned against the kitchen counter, my heart doing that nervous **cat** vibration thing it does whenever she walked into a room. There she was — laughing at something Tyler said, hair perfect, everything perfect.

I felt dead inside, like not even caffeine could save me. Until she looked over.

"Hey!" She materialized next to me, all bright energy. "You okay? You look... intense."

I panicked. "Just thinking about how **lightning** never strikes twice, you know?"

What. Why did I say that.

She tilted her head, studying me. Then she laughed — not the fake laugh she gave Tyler, but a real one. "That's literally the most random thing ever. I love it."

We ended up on the back porch, talking about everything and nothing. She confessed she felt like a zombie too, that her perfect grades were basically performance art. We bonded over our shared exhaustion, cracked jokes about how we were both running on fumes and desperation.

When her phone buzzed — her ride was leaving — she hugged me. Actually hugged me.

"You're not like the other guys," she whispered.

I stood there long after she left, the cold air hitting my face. For the first time all week, I didn't feel dead anymore.

I didn't even care about the vitamin shots tomorrow. Some things are worth the exhaustion.