Zombie Mode

Maya dragged herself through the front door, feeling like a total zombie after three hours of baseball practice. Coach Davis had been riding everyone extra hard since playoffs were coming up, and her arms were basically jelly. All she wanted was to collapse on the couch and rot.

"How was practice?" her little brother Leo asked from the floor, where he was building something terrifyingly elaborate with LEGOs.

"Don't ask," Maya groaned, grabbing a handful of spinach from the dinner her mom had left out. She shoveled it into her mouth, not even caring that she probably looked like a mess.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan. The Jordan. The one she'd been lowkey flirting with in math class for like, ever. He wanted to study together tomorrow. Her stomach did that thing where it felt like it was going to exit her body.

But then—horror of horrors—she caught her reflection in the darkened TV screen. A massive, obvious piece of spinach was wedged between her front teeth. She'd been walking around with it all day. At practice. Talking to people. Maybe even talking to Jordan after fifth period when he'd asked to borrow a pencil.

She wanted to disappear. Cease to exist. Become an actual zombie, because at least then she wouldn't have to feel things anymore.

"You good?" Leo asked, giving her a weird look.

"My life is over," Maya said dramatically. "Cancel my subscription."

"You're being so dramatic," he said, but he grinned. "Hey, wanna watch that zombie marathon on cable? The one with the terrible makeup?"

Maya flopped onto the couch beside him. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." Sometimes being a zombie wasn't so bad. Especially when you had a brother who'd pretend not to notice the spinach still stuck in your teeth.

Tomorrow she'd deal with Jordan and the embarrassment and whatever came next. Tonight, she was just going to rot.