Zombie Mode at the Deep End

Maya dragged herself to the community pool like a literal zombie. Three hours of sleep thanks to that horror movie marathon with Kai — bad idea, honestly. But when your crush invites you to the first pool party of summer, you don't say "nah, I'm basically the walking dead right now."

She spotted them immediately. The popular kids. Jordan's crew, looking effortless and golden in swimsuits that probably cost more than her entire wardrobe. Maya felt like she'd stepped into the wrong movie — some teen drama where she was definitely not the protagonist.

"Maya!" Jordan waved from the deep end. "Get in here! The water's perfect!"

She hesitated. Her one-piece was nothing compared to the bikinis splashing around. But then she remembered what her mom said: "You're you. That's enough. Not everyone's supposed to be the same."

Still. Would anyone notice she had spinach stuck in her teeth from breakfast? She'd checked like five times, but paranoia doesn't follow logic.

"You coming or what?" Kai treaded water nearby, grinning. They'd watched zombie movies until 3 AM and somehow he looked fine. Unfair.

She jumped in.

The shock of cold water hit her like a reset button. For a second, everything washed away — the anxiety, the exhaustion, the feeling that she was faking her way through teenagehood like everyone else.

When she surfaced, Jordan was right there. "So, Maya, Kai told me you survived the zombie marathon. That's impressive. I bailed after the first one."

Maya laughed, surprised. "You like zombie movies?"

"Obsessed," Jordan said. "The metaphorical ones are the scariest. You know, like how we're all just walking around pretending to have it together?"

Something in Maya's chest loosened. "Exactly. That's literally me right now."

"Hey." Jordan's expression softened. "You don't have to pretend. Not here."

Later, as they sat on the pool edge eating lunch, Maya discovered something shocking: Jordan's sandwich had spinach too. Just casually there, like it was normal to eat healthy at a pool party surrounded by junk food.

"Good stuff, right?" Jordan caught her looking. "My mom's all about those superfoods."

Maya smiled, really smiled, zombie exhaustion forgotten. Maybe she wasn't in the wrong movie after all. Maybe she was exactly where she was supposed to be, spinach smoothie tendencies and all.