Zombie Mode and Goldfish Memories

Maya's cat Barnaby was judging her again. The orange tabby sat on her desk, tail flicking with what looked suspiciously like feline sarcasm as she stared at her phone.

"You gonna say something helpful, or just sit there looking superior?" Maya muttered. Barnaby yawned, displaying tiny sharp teeth, and turned his back on her.

Rude.

Her phone buzzed. Jace, the cute junior from AP Bio, had actually replied to her DM about tomorrow's party. Her stomach did that embarrassing flip-flop thing that happened whenever someone cute acknowledged her existence.

She'd been running on pure zombie mode all week—finals, her mom's new work schedule, plus that disastrous haircut incident she was still trying to grow out. College applications loomed like storm clouds on the horizon, and sometimes she felt like she was just wading through school half-alive, watching everyone else seem so sure of who they were supposed to be.

The message from Jace made her pause. 'You should come! It's gonna be chill'

Chill. What even was chill? Maya couldn't remember the last time she'd felt chill about anything. Her goldfish, Bubbles—the one she'd won at that carnival last summer and somehow kept alive for seven months—swam to the front of his bowl and opened his mouth at her like he understood.

"Don't look at me like that, Bubbles," she said. "I know I'm overthinking it. But what if I say something weird? What if nobody talks to me? What if—"

Her phone buzzed again. 'Also wear something NOT from uniform. You have like, actual style right?'

Maya's breath caught. Actual style? Someone thought she had style?

She looked at her reflection in the fish bowl—distorted and swimmy, sure, but definitely NOT the version of herself that felt awkward and invisible most days. The orange neon sign from the bodega down the street filtered through her window, painting everything in warm light.

Barnaby jumped onto her keyboard and typed 'ghjklllllll'

"You know what?" Maya said, scratching behind his ears. "You're right. I'm going."

The zombie could wait until Monday morning's first period.