Zombie State of Mind

Maya pulled the brim of her dad's vintage **hat** lower, trying to disappear into the fringe. Coachella weekend, and she was practically a walking zombie after pulling two all-nighters in a row finishing AP Euro flashcards.

"You good, M?" Chloe asked, handing her a sparking water. "You look kinda... zombie-ish."

Maya managed a weak smile. "Living the dream, bro."

"You need to actually live it," Chloe said, gesturing at the pool where everyone was jumping in, phones abandoned on lounge chairs. "Not just survive it."

The water sparkled like something out of a coming-of-age movie, all blue promise and no consequences. Maya's crew had been drifting apart all semester—everyone caught up in college apps, relationship drama, the general chaos of junior year. She'd been feeling like a zombie moving through her own life, present but not really there.

"I don't know," she said, fiddling with the hat. "I'm not really feeling it today."

"Since when do you care what people think?" Chloe raised an eyebrow. "The girl who showed up to homecoming with temporary green hair streaks?"

That was true. Maya had always been the one who didn't give a flip what anyone thought. But somewhere between SAT prep and trying to keep her GPA floating above a 3.8, she'd forgotten how to be that person.

"Zombie mode, remember?" Maya finally said. "Brain's just... not online."

"Fix it." Chloe shoved her lightly toward the pool. "Water cures everything. Scientific fact."

Maya stood there for a second, then made her decision. She pulled off the hat and dropped it on a chair, kicked off her flip-flops, and jumped.

The shock of cold water was like a system reset. Under the surface, everything was muffled and blue and perfect. When she broke the surface, gasping and laughing, Chloe was already in beside her.

"See?" Chloe said. "Zombie cured."

Maybe it wasn't that simple. But as Maya treaded water, watching her friends cannonball in one by one, phone screens going dark, she felt something shift. She wasn't the person who had everything figured out. But she was done faking it.

"I'm good," she said, and this time she actually meant it.