Zombie Mode

Maya's phone buzzed. Again. Another notification. Another like on the photo she'd posted two minutes ago—her in that vintage bucket hat she'd thrifted, looking effortlessly chill even though she'd taken forty-seven shots to get it right.

She was currently zombie-walking through junior year. Three hours of sleep. Four coffees. Infinite scrolls through feeds where everyone else seemed to be living their best lives while she was just surviving. The hat had become her armor. Throw it on, brim pulled low, and she could disappear into the hallway between AP Bio and lunch.

"Yo, Maya!"

Jordan fell into step beside her, sliding his phone into his pocket. That was new—Jordan, without his iPhone surgically attached to his hand. He was wearing this ridiculous beanie with a puffball on top, the kind of thing that would've gotten him roasted last year.

"Hat's bold," Maya said, adjusting her own bucket hat.

"Living on the edge," he grinned. "Hey, you coming to Sarah's tonight?"

The thought of another party filled with people filming everything for stories made Maya want to crawl into her bed and never emerge. "I think I'm good. I've got—"

"Zombie mode activated?" Jordan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, me too. But look." He pulled out his phone, opened it, then frowned. "Actually, no. I'm leaving this at home tonight. First time since seventh grade."

Maya stared at him. "You're gonna walk into a party phone-less? Bold move, considering half the people there will literally cease to exist without their devices."

"Exactly." Jordan's grin widened. "Wanna be zombies together? The real kind. The ones who actually talk to people face-to-face?"

Something shifted in Maya's chest. A tiny spark of something that wasn't exhaustion.

She pulled off her bucket hat, shaking out her hair. The armor came off too.

"I'm in," she said. "But we're taking silly hats as a squad."

"Deal."

That night, neither of them posted a single story. And for the first time in months, Maya didn't feel like she was sleepwalking through her own life.