Zombie Running Club

I was basically a zombie by third period. Finals week will do that to you—turn seventeen-year-olds into the walking dead. I'd survived on three hours of sleep and questionable cafeteria coffee, and now I was somehow letting Maya talk me into joining the cross-country team.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she'd said. Maya, with her perfect GPA and somehow-still-shiny hair even during exam season. "Just one practice. Coach won't make you run the whole workout."

Famous last words.

So there I was, jogging alongside the varsity team, my lungs screaming and my legs feeling like they'd been replaced with lead pipes. Coach Miller kept barking about stamina and heart rate, but I was mostly running on sheer spite and the memory of Maya's smile when she'd asked me to join.

We wound through the park, past that weird statue everyone called the Sphinx because it was missing its nose. Someone had spray-painted "SENIORITIS LIVES" across its base last year. The joke wasn't funny anymore.

I was lagging behind, wheezing like I'd smoked a pack of cigarettes instead of just running twelve minutes, when Maya dropped back to match my pace. Her breathing was perfectly controlled—annoying.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Never been better," I lied. "Why do people do this voluntarily?"

She laughed, and my chest did this stupid fluttery thing that had nothing to do with running. "It's about pushing past what you think you can do. Plus, post-run endorphins are real."

"I'll believe it when I feel them."

We finished the loop, collapsing onto the grass while the real athletes stretched like graceful gazelles. Maya reached into her gym bag and pulled out a Tupperware container.

"Want some?" she offered, revealing chunks of bright orange fruit. "Papaya with lime. My mom's secret recovery food."

I stared at it. "I've never had papaya."

"First time for everything." She sprinkled something over it—chili flakes?—and handed me a piece.

I took it, expecting something weird or gross. But it was... actually good. Sweet but not too sweet, with this unexpected kick from the lime and chili. I looked at Maya, who was watching me try it with this tiny smile, like she knew something I didn't.

"Well?" she said.

"Not bad," I admitted. "Might even make the running worth it."

"Cool." She bumped my shoulder with hers. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I said, and maybe it was the endorphins finally kicking in, or maybe it was just Maya being Maya, but I didn't feel quite so zombie anymore. "Same time tomorrow."