Zombie Mode at the Palm Springs Pool

The text from Liam glowed on my screen: pool party @ Jordan's. Parents gone. BYOB.

I'd been zombie-walking through finals week, surviving on three hours of sleep and iced coffee. Social interaction felt like asking too much. But Maya would be there, and I'd been lowkey crushing on her since September.

The Palm Springs heat hit me like a wall when I stepped outside. Jordan's backyard was basically paradise—palm trees swaying, infinity pool gleaming, people already floatie-ing in the water. I grabbed a soda from the cooler and tried to look casual.

"Hey, Danny!" Maya waved from the pool, her wet hair slicked back. "Get in here! The water's perfect."

I froze. Swimming with my crush while feeling like a walking corpse? This was not the vibe.

"Come ON," Jordan yelled, splashing water at me. "Don't be boring."

I pulled off my shirt and jumped in. The cool water shocked me awake, washing away the zombie fog. Maya laughed at my dramatic entrance, and something in my chest did this stupid little flip thing.

We spent the next hour doing handstand contests and race challenges from one end of the pool to the other. Maya kept "accidentally" bumping into me, and I was pretty sure my face was permanently flushed.

Then the sky went dark.

"Whoa," someone said. We all looked up. Purple-black clouds were rolling in fast, way too fast. The palm trees bent sideways as wind suddenly whipped through the yard.

CRACK.

Lightning split the sky like someone had taken a photo of us with the world's brightest flash. For a second, everything was white. Then BOOM—the thunder shook the ground.

"OUT OF THE POOL!" Jordan's older brother screamed from the back door. "NOW!"

We scrambled out, grabbing towels and phones, half-laughing half-panicking. Rain started pouring as we ran for the covered patio. Maya grabbed my hand to pull me faster, and my brain short-circuited.

We huddled under the patio watching the storm, shoulder to shoulder. Every time lightning flashed, the pool turned this eerie blue color, like something out of a movie.

"Wild party," Maya whispered, leaning into me. "Best one ever, though."

I looked at her—really looked at her—and the zombie feeling was gone. Totally replaced by something that felt a whole lot like being alive.

"Yeah," I said. "Best one ever."