Zombie State of Mind

I stood against the wall at Tyler's party, feeling like a literal **zombie** from all the Netflix binge-watching I'd done this week instead of, you know, having a life. My **palm**s were sweating so badly I thought I might actually drop my phone if anyone tried to high-five me.

Then I saw her: Sarah, with this new short **hair**cut that made her look like she'd walked straight out of a Tumblr aesthetic board. She was laughing at something Jake said, and my stomach did this weird flip thing that had nothing to do with the questionable snacks on the kitchen table.

"You look like you're dying," my best friend Rico whispered, nudging me. "Go talk to her already."

"I can't," I hissed back. "What if I say something stupid? What if I'm just another awkward dude hitting on her?"

Rico rolled his eyes. "Stop overthinking everything. You're not gonna die. Unless you keep standing here like a creep, then I might kill you myself."

Just then, Jake—aka the biggest **bull**y in our grade, somehow still invited to everything—shoved past me, knocking into Sarah. She stumbled, spilling her soda all over her new dress. The room went quiet.

Jake laughed. "Nice moves, Sarah."

Something in me snapped. Maybe it was the zombie endurance I'd built up from years of being invisible. I stepped forward.

"Yo Jake," I said, my voice shaking but audible. "That wasn't cool. You should apologize."

The room got even quieter. Jake turned to me, his expression unreadable. For a second, I thought he'd push me. Instead, he shrugged. "Whatever. My bad, Sarah."

She mouthed "thanks" at me, and suddenly my palms weren't sweating anymore. Maybe zombies could have moments too, even if it was just standing up to one bully at one party.

Rico high-fived me so hard my hand stung. "See? That wasn't so bad."

I watched Sarah laugh with her friends again, and for the first time all night, I didn't feel dead inside. I felt something else entirely—like maybe, just maybe, I was finally waking up.