Zombie Mode Energy

Maya dragged herself through the hallway, feeling straight-up like a **zombie** after staying up until 3 AM scrolling through TikTok. Her **friend** Chen caught up to her at her locker, looking suspiciously energized.

"Dude, you look dead," Chen said. "Here." He handed her a handful of gummy **vitamin** C supplements. "My mom says these are basically natural energy."

"That's total **bull** and you know it," Maya laughed, but popped two anyway. "What's the actual deal? Why are you so hype?"

Chen's grin went wicked. "Okay so—you know Jordan? Finally got the courage to DM her last night. We talked for like four hours. She's coming to the game tonight."

Maya's stomach did that thing it always did when things shifted between them. Chen, her video game buddy since seventh grade, suddenly noticing girls like *that*.

"Nice," she managed, though her voice came out flatter than intended.

At lunch, they sat in their usual spot. Chen was **cable**-managed into existence—headphones, charging cord, and smart watch cables all perfectly organized while Maya's stuff remained a tangled disaster. She liked that about them. How they balanced each other out.

"You gonna come tonight?" Chen asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know I don't do crowds."

"It's different when you're with your people though, right?"

His people. The words hit different. Maya had always assumed she was part of that equation, but Jordan's name kept coming up, and suddenly Maya felt like the **bull** in a china shop—clumsy, out of place, taking up space she wasn't sure belonged to her anymore.

Her phone buzzed. Jordan had posted a story. Chen and Jordan at some party Maya wasn't invited to, looking closer than friends should look. The caption read: "real ones only."

The **vitamin** gummies suddenly tasted like lies in her mouth.

"I'll think about it," Maya said, gathering her stuff. The **cable** to her headphones snagged on her bag, yanking everything sideways. Typical.

Later that night, Maya lay in bed feeling like a **zombie** again, but different this time. Not tired. Just... hollow. Being a teenager was supposed to be about finding your people, right? So why did it feel like everyone was finding theirs and she was still waiting for something that wasn't coming?

Her phone lit up. Chen: "You coming? Jordan asked about you."

Maya stared at the screen. Sometimes growing up meant realizing the stories you told yourself about belonging were total **bull**. And sometimes it meant being brave enough to show up anyway.

She grabbed her hoodie. Headphone **cable** safely pocketed. Vitamin gummies already forgotten. Time to find out what her chapter looked like next.