Zombie Mode

Liam's golden retriever, Buster, nudged his hand at 6:30 AM like clockwork. The dog understood morning routines better than Liam understood himself sometimes.

"Ugh, zombie mode engaged," Liam mumbled, dragging himself out of bed. Three hours of sleep because he'd been up until 3 AM stalking Maya's Instagram. Again.

Harmless, right? Except his best friend Priya called it "lowkey creepy" yesterday when she caught him.

"Bro, you're not a spy," she'd said, grabbing her bubble tea. "Maya posted that story literally for everyone to see. You're just... watching from the comments section like a ghost."

Liam hated that she was right. He'd been orbiting Maya's social circle since September—watching, liking, never actually speaking.

Until today.

At lunch, Liam spotted Maya across the cafeteria. She was laughing with her friends, that genuine laugh that made his chest feel weird. Before he could overthink it, he grabbed his tray and walked over.

"Hey!" he said, his voice cracking. Smooth. "I, uh, saw you're into padel?"

Maya looked up, surprised. "Yeah! My cousin got me hooked over summer break. You play?"

"Trying to learn," Liam said, which was technically true—he'd watched exactly two YouTube tutorials at midnight while "spying" on her profile.

"We're hitting the courts this Saturday," Maya said, smiling. "You should come."

Liam walked back to Priya's table feeling like he'd unlocked some hidden achievement.

"Well?" Priya raised an eyebrow.

"Saturday. Padel. With Maya," Liam said, trying to play it cool but failing spectacularly.

"See what happens when you stop being a creepy social media zombie and actually talk to people?" Priya grinned.

Buster was waiting by the door when Liam got home, tail wagging like he already knew. Liam scratched the dog's ears, grinning at nothing.

Sometimes you have to stop watching from the sidelines. Sometimes you have to put down the phone, embrace the awkward, and just show up.

Zombie mode: deactivated.