Zombie Pool Party Protocol

The sun beat down on Miller's backyard pool party like it was trying to prove a point. Maya adjusted her oversized sunglasses, feeling like the world's most awkward inflatable pool float—just kind of bobbing around, waiting for someone to grab her.

"You're doing it again," said Jenna, nudging her. "The wall thing. You look like a cat deciding whether to jump off a fridge."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I'm observing. There's a difference. It's called social intelligence."

"It's called being in your head." Jenna scanned the crowd. "Tyler's literally staring at you right now."

"He's not—"

"Bro, he is."

Maya's stomach did that thing. The thing it did whenever Tyler so much as breathed in her direction. Which was ridiculous, because this was Tyler, who'd sat next to her in biology since seventh grade and once called mitochondria the 'powerhouse of the party' in front of everyone.

But something had shifted this year. The geometry of their friendship had tilted, suddenly full of edges and angles that hadn't existed before. They were caught in that terrible, wonderful limbo where everything meant something and nothing meant anything at all.

Then she saw him walking over, and her brain short-circuited.

"Hey," Tyler said, sliding into the chair beside hers. Water droplets clung to his shoulders like he'd just emerged from some mythical lake. "You're not swimming?"

"Working on my tan," Maya said, instantly regretting it. Her skin was practically see-through.

"Nice." He grinned. "Solid strategy. I was gonna ask if you wanted to play zombie tag with everyone, but...tan priority. I respect that."

"Zombie tag?"

"Yeah, it's this game where someone's 'it' and they're a zombie, and if they tag you, you're infected too. Last human standing wins." He leaned closer. "Wanna team up?"

Maya's heart was hammering so hard she was pretty sure everyone could hear it. "Like...allies?"

"Exactly. You and me, back-to-back. We take down the whole pool. What do you say?"

A cat meowed from somewhere nearby, startling them both. They cracked up laughing, and for a moment, everything was simple.

"Okay," Maya said, standing up. "Let's do this."

Tyler's smile was real and warm and everything she'd wanted all summer. "Awesome. Just don't let me turn, all right? Shoot first."

"No promises."

She dove into the pool, and for the first time all day, she wasn't watching from the sidelines anymore.