Zombie Mode at Tyler's Party

Maya's palms were sweating so much her iPhone nearly slipped from her grip. Sixteen years old, and she still didn't know how to exist at parties without feeling like everyone was secretly judging her awkard turtle energy.

"Dude, you okay?" Tyler's basement smelled like stale Doritos and the expensive cologne his older brother definitely stole. Maya nodded, swiping through her phone like her life depended on it. Anything to avoid eye contact with Jordan—the sophomore with the crooked smile who made her stomach do backflips.

She'd been binge-watching zombie shows all week, which probably explained why she felt like one of them. Just shuffling through life, waiting for something real to happen. Her thumb hovered over a viral cat video—her ninth in twenty minutes. Classic avoidance behavior.

Then her iPhone died. Dead. Zero percent.

Panic. Actual, full-body panic.

Maya's phone was her armor. Her shield. Her "I'm busy, don't talk to me" device. Without it, she was just Maya: the girl who once said "you too" when someone told her happy birthday.

She looked up. Jordan was walking toward her. This was it. The moment she'd been simultaneously hoping for and dreading all night.

"Hey," he said. "You look like you've seen a zombie."

Maya's palms went nuclear. "Rough night."

"Same." He held up his own phone. "Battery died. I was watching this cat video—"

"Wait." Maya's heart did something illegal. "Which one?"

"The orange one that tries to jump over the baby gate and completely fails?"

"I just watched that!" The words tumbled out before she could overthink them. "I've literally watched it seven times tonight."

Jordan grinned. "No way. That's my comfort content. Whenever I'm stressed about grades or whatever, it's just... cat videos."

"Same!" Maya felt something shift. "I was definitely using it to avoid talking to people."

"Me too." He leaned against the wall, close enough that she could smell his hoodie—fresh laundry and something woodsy. "We're terrible at this party thing."

"We're in zombie mode," Maya said, and then they were both laughing, really laughing, and for the first time all night, her palms were dry.

"Want to get food?" Jordan asked. "My cousin's cat just had kittens. I have photos."

Maya's phone could stay dead. She was done swiping through life anyway.