Zombie Mode and Midnight Scrolls

Maya's brain felt like it had been put through a blender, then microwaved, then served on a soggy paper plate. Three AP classes, swim practice until 6 PM, and now it was 1:47 AM and she was still awake.

Her golden retriever, Buster, let out a soft huff from his bed in the corner. He was the only one who truly understood her struggle.

"Same, Buster. Same," she whispered, scratching his ear when he padded over and rested his chin on her mattress.

Maya's iPhone screen glowed in the dark room as she mindlessly scrolled through Instagram for the third time that night. She was practically a zombie at this point—dead inside, but her thumb still moved on autopilot. Her friends called it "doomscrolling," but Maya preferred "emotional damage research."

That's when she saw it: a post from Liam, the cute junior who sat behind her in English. He was at some party she hadn't been invited to, smiling next to Jessica-the-perfect-cheerleader.

Ugh. The mental gymnastics began. Why was she basically cyber-stalking him like a total weirdo? She wasn't a spy or something creepy—she was just a girl with a massive crush and zero rizz.

Buster whined, nudging her hand with his wet nose.

"I know, boy. I'm being pathetic."

She was about to close the app when Liam posted again: *"Anyone else still awake? This party is cooked tbh 😭"*

Maya's heart did that embarrassing flutter thing. Before she could overthink it, she typed: *"Same. Studying until 3 AM because my life is a joke 💀"*

Send.

Wait. SEND?!

She tossed her phone across her bed like it was radioactive. What had she done? Now Liam would know she'd been watching his stories like a total loser. She was ruined. Her social life was over. She'd have to move to Antarctica and become—

Ding.

Her phone lit up with a notification from Liam: *"English lit student solidarity ✊ Bet you're actually smart though. I'm out here failing everything while pretending to have my life together lol"*

Maya stared at her screen, then at Buster, who was now fully asleep, drooling on her duvet like he didn't just witness his human's entire personality shift from anxious mess to... well, slightly less anxious mess.

Maybe being a zombie wasn't so bad if you found other zombies to be zombies with.