Zombie Poolside

I felt like a **zombie**. Finals week had turned my brain into mush, and my eyelids were basically doing parkour just to stay open. But there I was, standing at the edge of the **pool** in Maya's backyard, clutching a red plastic cup like it was a lifeline.

"You good?" Leo asked, grinning. He'd already jumped in, his hair plastered to his forehead like a wet dog.

"Literally never been more dead inside," I said, which wasn't even an exaggeration. I'd gotten four hours of sleep total since Monday. Social battery? Nonexistent.

The pool party was supposed to be the kickoff to summer—everyone from school, blaring music, chips everywhere. Instead of feeling hyped, I just felt... hollow. Like I was going through the motions of being a teenager without actually feeling like one.

Then I saw it.

Maya's cat, lounging on a patio chair like it owned the place. It was hairless, wrinkly, and honestly kind of looked like a tiny alien. A **sphinx** cat.

"That's your cat?" I asked Maya, who'd just climbed out of the pool.

"Yeah, that's Beefy," she said, scratching its weird little head. "He looks like a test answer I got wrong."

I laughed—like, actually laughed. The first real laugh all week.

Beefy stared at me with these giant, judgmental eyes, and suddenly I felt seen. This naked little creature was just vibing, completely unbothered by being the weirdest thing at the party. Not trying to impress anyone. Not pretending to have it together. Just existing.

"You know what?" I said, setting down my cup. "I think I need to channel my inner Beefy."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Your inner sphinx energy?"

"Exactly. Just... being weirdly confident about being a mess."

I kicked off my flip-flops and jumped into the pool. The water shocked me awake, and when I surfaced, Leo was laughing, Maya was taking a Snapchat, and for the first time in forever, I didn't feel like a zombie going through the motions.

I felt like a weird, awkward, amazing human. And honestly? That was way better.