Zombie State

I've been standing by the **pool** for twenty minutes, nursing a warm Sprite like it's my emotional support beverage. It's the last party before everyone scatters to different colleges, and somehow that makes everything feel heavy, like we're all trying to memorize each other before the movie ends.

The **palm** trees around Tyler's backyard sway like they're drunk, casting long shadows across the water where people are doing cannonballs that definitely violate several HOA rules. Someone's marathoning **zombie** movies inside, and now half the seniors are shambling around with fake blood while the other half pretends to be too cool for it.

"You want yours read?" Chloe appears out of nowhere with a tarot deck. "I'm doing **palm** readings now. It's my whole post-graduation era."

I extend my hand before I can talk myself out of it. Chloe traces the lines on my **palm**, frowning like she's deciphering ancient texts. "You're going to have a major moment tonight. Life-changing stuff."

"Great, no pressure," I say, but my heart hammers anyway.

I've been crushing on Tyler since English when he made that actually funny joke about Gatsby being a toxic narcissist, and tonight's literally my last chance before UCLA.

The **zombie** makeup crew stumbles outside, and Tyler's among them, looking like he wandered through an apocalypse. His fake blood smears in the heat, and somehow the ridiculousness makes my anxiety finally crack.

"Hey," he says, dropping into the pool chair next to mine. "You didn't dress up. Very chill."

"Left my costume in my other purse," I say, and we both laugh.

He's close enough that I can see his real eyes under the **zombie** contacts—brown and unfairly genuine. The party noise fades into background static, like a song I don't need to hear anymore.

"I'm glad you came," he says. "Wanted to talk to you all year but never figured out how without being weird."

My heart does something complicated. "Me too."

The **pool** lights flick on automatically, turning the water electric blue, like a movie scene. This is it, I think. The palm reading was right.

But then someone screams from inside the house, "PIZZA'S HERE EVERYONE GET IN HERE," and the moment shatters like glass.

Tyler stands up, offering me a hand that's somehow steady despite everything. "You coming?"

I look at the empty **pool**, the **palm** trees against the purple sky, the fake blood smearing on Tyler's cheek. "Yeah," I say. "I'm coming."

I don't know exactly what happens next, but for the first time all night, I'm not afraid to find out.