Zombie Queen of the Social Pyramid

Maya felt like a zombie most days—shuffling through sophomore year with hooded eyes and zero social currency. At Westbridge High, you were either at the top of the pyramid or buried underneath it, and Maya was definitely underground.

Then Taryn caught her in the bathroom applying gray foundation and fake blood before first period.

Taryn, aka The Fox—the girl who'd somehow made student council president, varsity cheer captain, and actually get called Fox by everyone (something about her copper hair and knowing everyone's secrets before they'd even told them).

"What are you, a zombie for Halloween?" Taryn had smirked, leaning against the doorframe with that terrifying confidence.

"Actually, yeah," Maya had found herself saying. "It's my thing. Special effects makeup. I'm, like, really good at it."

She'd expected Taryn to laugh or broadcast it as the latest weirdo news. Instead, Taryn's eyes had lit up with genuine interest.

"No way. Show me."

Three months later, Maya had gone from invisible to the girl who did everyone's Halloween looks. She'd turned Taryn into a convincing corpse for the football game's halftime show. She'd transformed the entire debate team into a zombie horde for their parody video.

But the real surprise wasn't the newfound popularity—it was that Taryn wasn't actually a fox at all. She was just good at pretending, spying on conversations from the edges because she'd never felt confident enough to jump in.

"You're like, actually talented," Taryn said one afternoon while Maya applied bullet holes to her neck for drama club's production of Romeo and Juliet—zombie edition. "How were you hiding this?"

Maya shrugged. "Same reason you spy instead of speak. High school's a pyramid scheme, right? Someone's always selling you something you don't need."

Taryn grinned, genuine this time. "Well, at least we figured out the hustle before graduation."