Zombie Mode and Midnight Whiskers

Maya dragged herself into third period, definitely in full zombie mode after staying up until 3 AM scrolling through her feed. Her eyes burned, and her brain felt like it had been put through a blender. But somehow, Mr. Harrison's voice droning on about symbolism in literature was actually kind of grounding.

"Psst. Maya."

A crumpled note landed on her desk. She glanced sideways at Leo, the cute skater boy she'd been lowkey obsessing over since September. His messy black hair fell over his eyes as he pretended to be intensely focused on his textbook.

Maya's heart did that annoying flutter thing as she unfolded the note: "Party at Jake's Friday. You should come. ;)"

Her stomach dropped. Parties were basically her personal nightmare. All that small talk, people she barely knew, the pressure to be cool and normal and everything she definitely wasn't. At home, she was perfectly content hanging out with Mochi, her obese orange tabby who judged everyone from the safety of the couch. Mochi didn't care if she was awkward or said weird things or sometimes forgot how to words.

She stared at her iPhone, the screen lighting up with notifications she couldn't deal with right now. Her group chat was blowing up about the party already.

"omg maya you have to come"

"it'll be so fun"

"leo was asking about you 👀"

Maya's face heated up. Leo had been asking about her? Since when?

That night, she lay on her bed, Mochi purring loudly against her side like a fuzzy orange motor. "I can't do this," she whispered to the ceiling. "I literally can't."

Mochi headbutted her chin, demanding attention like the tiny dictator he was.

"You think I should go?" Maya asked him. He responded by licking her nose with a sandpaper tongue and then immediately biting it. "Rude."

But something shifted. Maybe it was the way Leo had actually noticed her existence, or maybe she was just tired of being the girl who always said no. Either way, Friday night found her standing outside Jake's house, music thumping through the walls like a living thing, her palms sweating and her heart racing like she'd just run a marathon.

She almost turned around. Almost. But then she spotted Leo through the window, laughing with his friends, looking so easy and comfortable in his own skin, and something in her chest just... decided.

Maya took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped inside.

"Maya!" Leo spotted her immediately, his face lighting up. "You made it!"

"Yeah," she said, and for the first time in forever, it wasn't a lie. "Yeah, I made it."