Zombie State of Mind

Maya felt like a literal zombie as she dragged herself toward Jordan's pool party. Junior year finals had turned her brain into mush, and the fact that she'd been up until 3 AM scrolling through TikTok wasn't helping. The invitation had sat on her phone for days—Jordan, the effortlessly cool track star who'd somehow ended up in her AP Bio lab group, had actually added her personally. She was still running through five different possible scenarios of how she'd embarrass herself.

The house was already packed when she arrived, bass thumping through the speakers. Palm trees swayed along the fence, their shadows stretching across the backyard like lazy fingers. Maya spotted Jordan immediately—of course they looked perfect, dripping wet and laughing with the popular crowd. Maya considered making a break for it, but then Jordan caught her eye and waved.

"Hey! You made it!" Jordan bounded over, water still clinging to their skin. "Everyone's doing a zombie movie marathon after swimming, you down?"

"Yeah, totally," Maya managed, hoping she didn't sound as awkward as she felt. "I, uh, I didn't bring a suit though."

"No worries, I've got extras," Jordan said already halfway to the pool house. Maya followed, hyper-aware of everyone watching. When she emerged in Jordan's extra bikini, she froze at the pool's edge. The water looked both inviting and terrifying.

"You coming in or what?" Jordan called from the middle of the pool, grinning. "Don't make me come get you."

Something about Jordan's easy confidence made Maya's chest feel light. She took a breath and jumped. The cool water shocked her system as she went under, and when she broke the surface, sputtering and laughing, Jordan was right there.

"See? Not so bad," they said, treading water close enough that Maya could see the lighter ring around Jordan's irises. The moment stretched, charged with something Maya wasn't ready to name yet. Then someone yelled "CANNONBALL!" and the spell broke as a wave of water crashed over them both.

Later, wrapped in towels and watching zombies eat brains on Jordan's giant TV, Maya realized something. She wasn't a zombie anymore—she was exactly where she was supposed to be.