Zombie Mode Activated

The pool party was supposed to be legendary, but I was operating on zero sleep and maximum anxiety. Marcus's house was practically vibrating with bass from the speakers, and I'd already spent two hours hiding in the bathroom because I'd shown up wearing the same vintage tee as Sarah, who apparently had made it clear to everyone that she invented that aesthetic.

"You look like a literal zombie," my best friend Jayden whispered, handing me a red solo cup. "Just jump in the pool already. The cold water will reset your brain."

I wasn't having it. I'd spent three hours straightening my hair earlier, and chlorine was not about to be the villain of my origin story. But then I saw him—Caleb, the guy I'd been lowkey crushing on since seventh grade, standing by the deep end looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. He caught my eye and gave me this tiny, understanding smile. That was it. That was the moment.

I started walking toward the pool, and suddenly everyone was watching. Sarah and her friends stopped mid-conversation. My heart was beating so fast I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. And then I just went for it—full cannonball, hair and dignity be damned. The water shocked me awake, and when I surfaced, sputtering and wiping chlorine from my eyes, Caleb was laughing. Actually laughing.

"Finally," he said. "I was waiting for someone to break the tension. Everyone's been standing around pretending to be cool for like an hour."

We ended up on the pool's edge, legs dangling in the water, talking about everything and nothing. He told me he hated pool parties too, that he only came because his mom made him socialize more. We bonded over our shared zombie state from finals week, how we both stayed up until 3 AM watching random shows because neither of our families had cable anymore, just streaming services that made it too easy to binge.

"I feel like I'm always swimming upstream socially," he admitted, which was exactly how I felt every single day at school.

The thunderstorm rolled in around midnight, sending everyone scrambling inside. Me and Caleb ended up squeezed together on the couch under a blanket, watching the lightning through the sliding glass doors. We didn't even watch TV—we just talked. About real stuff. About feeling like we were always performing, always trying to be the right version of ourselves.

"Zombie mode activated," he joked when I yawned, and I laughed because it was true. But for the first time in forever, I didn't mind feeling tired. I kind of just felt... seen.