Zombie Walk Homecoming

Maya's reflection in the gym bathroom mirror showed a zombie staring back—well, a cute zombie, thanks to three hours of contouring she'd learned from TikTok. Her phone, the glowing rectangle that ruled her life, had been blowing up all night with texts about whose house party was lit and whose was mid. Homecoming Court voting closed in twenty minutes, and her palms were sweating through her costume gloves.

She'd spent weeks curating the perfect Instagram feed, crafting a version of herself that was confident and effortless. But standing there in her father's oversized fishing hat and the orange thrift store dress she'd diy'd into something costume-chic, Maya felt like an imposter.

Then she saw Chen by the punch bowl, wearing the stupidest bear ears headband she'd ever seen. He was scrolling through his phone, looking exactly how she felt—like a zombie going through the motions. Their eyes met, and something shifted.

"Nice hat," Chen said, gesturing to her fishing hat with his cup of suspiciously bright orange punch.

"Nice ears," Maya shot back, surprising herself. "You going full teddy bear?"

He laughed, actually laughed. "My little sister dressed me. Said I needed to embrace my soft side."

They ended up sitting on the bleachers, escaping the noise, passing his phone back and forth showing each other their most embarrassing middle school photos. The bear ears stayed on. The fishing hat stayed too. For the first time all night, Maya wasn't performing.

"You know what's crazy?" Chen said. "We're all just zombies until we find someone who sees us anyway."

Maya looked at him, really looked at him, and thought about how the perfect Instagram life she'd been chasing felt emptier than this moment on cold metal bleachers with a guy in bear ears.

"Yeah," she said. "But at least we're not alone in it."

Her phone buzzed with a notification—Homecoming Court results. She didn't even check it. Some things were more important than likes.