Zombie Mode at the Party

Maya dragged her feet into Tyler's basement, already regretting this. The air smelled like cheap body spray and desperation, and she was operating on pure zombie mode after staying up until 3 AM finishing her history project.

"You made it!" Tyler shouted over the music, practically vibrating with energy. "This party is gonna be lightning tonight."

Lightning? More like awkward slow motion.

Maya spotted Jordan across the room, talking to some seniors. Her stomach did that thing it always did when Jordan was within a fifty-foot radius. She'd been crushing on them since seventh grade, and tonight—tonight was supposed to be the night she finally talked to them like a normal human being.

Instead, she ended up trapped in a conversation with Marcus, who was going on and on about how his dad's friend knew a guy who got attacked by a bear while camping.

"No, seriously, a BEAR," Marcus kept saying, like repeating it made it more impressive.

Maya's cat, Mochi, had more interesting stories. At least Mochi's adventures involved actually leaving the apartment.

The worst part? When Mrs. Chen came downstairs to check on everyone, Marcus immediately switched to this weirdly formal voice, completely bullshitting about how they were "just discussing literature and planning study groups."

The pure bull coming out of his mouth was almost impressive.

Then the power went out.

For three seconds, everything was pitch black. Someone screamed. Maya's hand brushed against someone else's—warm, steady fingers interlacing with hers.

"You okay?" Jordan's voice, right next to her ear.

Her heart stopped. Then restarted at approximately double speed.

"Yeah," she managed. "Just... startled."

"This is way better than whatever was happening before," Jordan said, and they were both laughing as emergency lighting kicked in, bathing everything in this weird orange glow that made everyone look like they were in a dystopian movie.

They spent the rest of the blackout sitting in the corner, talking about everything and nothing. Jordan admitted they were terrified of public speaking. Maya confessed she'd never been to a party before. When the power came back on, neither of them moved.

Maybe zombie mode had its perks after all. Sometimes you had to be half-dead tired to accidentally do something completely alive.