Zombie Mode Activated

I walked into third period chemistry feeling like a straight-up zombie. Three hours of sleep will do that to you, especially when you're up until 3 AM grinding ranked matches in Apex. My boy Marcus had the nerve to look fresh as hell, sipping some neon-green smoothie like he wasn't scrolling TikTok until midnight.

"What is that?" I gestured at his cup.

"Vitamin D boost," he said, doing a little dance move. "My mom says I need it since I never go outside."

"Same," I muttered, slumping into my seat.

Then Bella walked in, and suddenly my zombie brain was like, *wait, hold up.* She was wearing this oversized hoodie that made her look soft and approachable, but her eyes scanned the room like a fox checking for danger. She caught my stare and I immediately looked down at my desk, smooth as ever.

Mr. Harrison announced we'd be watching a documentary, which honestly felt like a gift from the universe. But then the TV wouldn't turn on because someone—probably the juniors who had this room last period—had messed with the cables. I raised my hand to go fix it because fixing stuff is my thing.

"Thanks, Alex," Bella whispered as I connected everything back properly.

"No problem," I said, trying to sound chill. My heart was doing backflips though.

Later at lunch, Marcus was like, "Bro, Bella was totally checking you out."

"She was not," I said, but I was lowkey hoping he was right.

"She was! When you fixed the cable situation, she smiled at you for like five seconds. That's basically marriage in high school time."

I laughed so hard orange juice came out my nose. "You're ridiculous."

But maybe he had a point. Maybe tomorrow I'd actually talk to her instead of just being zombie kid who's good with technology. Baby steps.