Zombie Mode at the Pool

Maya's fingers skimmed the water's surface during warm-up laps, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Specifically, it was still glued to her iPhone, which sat in her locker like a forbidden treasure. Coach Rivera had declared today's practice a "no-phone zone"—something about team bonding and being present. Whatever. Maya was practically vibrating from Instagram withdrawal by the second lap.

The chlorinated water stung her eyes as she pushed off the wall, doing her best impression of a zombie from those old movies her mom loved. Arms dragging, barely lifting her head, dead-eyed stare at the lane line. That's when she noticed Jayden in the next lane doing the exact same thing—slow, zombie swimming, like he was walking dead through the water instead of actually racing.

"Bro," Jayden whispered during a water break, wiping chlorine from his eyes. "I literally haven't checked my notifications in two hours. I think I'm going through withdrawal."

Maya snorted. "Same. I feel like I'm missing everything. What if Sarah texted? What if there's drama?"

But something weird happened as practice continued. Without her iPhone to distract her, Maya started noticing things—how the light hit the water making it sparkle like diamonds, how her teammates laughed during relay races, how good it felt to actually swim fast instead of just going through the motions like a zombie. She even high-fived Jayden when they both finished their final lap at the same time, breathless and actually present.

After practice, Coach Rivera finally unlocked the locker room. Maya scrambled for her iPhone, heart racing, ready to dive back into the digital world. But when she unlocked it and saw exactly three notifications—all low-stakes group chat memes—something felt different.

She pocketed the phone and headed to the pool deck, where her team was ordering pizza together. Maybe zombie mode wasn't about the phone withdrawal after all. Maybe it was about learning when to disconnect so you could actually show up for your life.

"Hey Maya," Jayden called, waving from the picnic table. "We saved you a slice."

She left her phone in her pocket and sat down. The real world was way more interesting anyway.