Zombie Mode at the Plate

Marcus shuffled into homeroom like a **zombie**—the I-stayed-up-until-4-am-gaming kind, not the brain-eating kind. His eyes burned, his brain felt like mush, and the coffee he'd chugged in the parking lot was definitely not working.

"Dude, you look dead," said Ty, sliding into the desk beside him. "Big test?"

"Try big raid boss," Marcus mumbled, face-planting onto his folded arms. "We were THIS close to dropping him when my mom made me get off at midnight. But then I got back on..."

Ty shook his head. "That's rough. Hey, you coming to the baseball game today? Riley's pitching."

Marcus perked up slightly. Riley. The girl with the smile that made his stomach do weird gymnastics routines. "Yeah. I'll be there."

Fast forward to seventh period, and Marcus was officially operating on dangerous levels of sleep deprivation. He'd somehow agreed to take his little sister's **goldfish**—named Swim Shady, because seven-year-olds were apparently obsessed with dad jokes—to school for her show-and-tell, which she'd conveniently forgotten about until that morning.

Now he was carrying a plastic bag with a fish inside, trying to look cool while looking like he'd crawled out of a grave.

"Nice fish," said Riley, falling into step beside him in the hallway. "Is it... for good luck?"

Marcus's brain short-circuited. "Uh, yeah. Totally. Swim Shady brings good vibes."

Riley laughed, and it was the best sound he'd heard all day. "You're so weird, Marcus. That's why I like you."

Wait. WHAT?

Before he could process that information, his phone buzzed. A text from Ty: "dude Riley keeps looking at you in the dugout but you're literally staring at a fish instead help me help you"

The **baseball** game was in full swing when Marcus finally made it to the field. Swim Shady was safely stashed in his bag, Riley was dominating on the mound, and Marcus was experiencing that strange floating feeling that came with zero sleep and maximum adrenaline.

After the game—a solid 4-2 victory—Riley found him near the bleachers.

"Hey, zombie boy," she said, nudging his shoulder. "You survived."

"Barely," Marcus admitted. "But I think Swim Shady enjoyed the game."

"Good." Riley smiled, and his stomach did those gymnastics again. "Maybe next time, you can actually watch the game instead of babysitting a fish?"

"Next time?"

"Yeah. Next time." She winked. "Unless you're too busy raiding until 4am."

Marcus grinned, feeling suddenly more awake than he had all day. "I think I can make some adjustments to my schedule."

Some things were worth losing sleep over. But maybe, just maybe, other things were worth staying awake for.