It's Complicated: A Zombie Romance Novel

Graduation Part 2

There were too many unanswered questions swimming around in my brain. Like how they all looked so alive, Lee Ann for one. I'd been living with her for a week and it was only now that I noticed the symptoms. She didn't smell dead. There was this look in her eyes I just hadn't seen it before.

I stepped through the exit doors, deep in my own thoughts. The hall was supposed to be empty, but the echo of another person's footsteps was unmistakeable. They were coming right for me, slow and dragging at first.

Zombies were slow, right? I had no knowledge of these things. I'd never made it through the first ten minutes of a zombie movie.

The pace quickened. I broke into a run. There was no way to hide that I knew. All I could do was get away.

Thump, thump, thump. Why did they make these gowns so hard to run in? I was so close to the exit doors. I could see the sign in front of me. Just a few more paces and I would be outside.

I didn't know why that seemed better. Zombies weren't like vampires, right? They didn't dissolve into power in the sunlight, so making it to the door didn't mean much. But still, it was a goal.

I tripped over the hem of the gown and went tumbling through the door. I was outside. I was so relieved to have a door between me and the footsteps that I didn't see the hands until it was too late.

"I thought you'd never leave," said Gideon into my ear.

I screamed. He clapped his had over my mouth. "Wow there, princess. I just wanted to say congrats."

I stopped screaming. Even knowing that he was dead didn't help. He tentatively lifted his hand from my mouth.

"Thought you might want to do the same for me." He put his hand behind his back and ruffled his hair. Dead guys should not look that sexy ruffling their hair.

"I know what you went through to get here today. I just wanted to congratulate you, but you took a long time getting out of there." He pointed back at the auditorium.

"I know," I stammered.

"So why didn't you come out sooner?" he teased. I shook my head.

"No," I said. "This isn't right. Look, I know what you are." I didn't want to tell him, but it just popped out.

"Wow, slow down," he said, grabbing my arms. He used them as leverage to turn me away from the door and into his body. I pounded on his chest. It couldn't have been that hard because he was still holding me trapped.

He was going to eat me now. That's what zombies did in the movies, right? They ate people. I waited for him to take the first bite.

He lowered his head to my shoulder. All I could feel was his breath, no teeth yet. Were zombies really this restrained? I'd never actually watched a zombie movie so I had no clue.

"I've waited a long time for this," he said. He lifted his eyes to mine. The electricity was tangible between us. It was fighting with my fear for control. His dead eyes were staring into mine.

"For you to see me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. If you're going do it please just get it over with," I stammered. I closed my eyes ready for the inevitable. He laughed into my throat.

"Oh, no. I'm going to savor every second I get with you." Great, my crush was going to prolong my death. Lucky me.

I thought about hitting him in the jewels, but I didn't think zombies felt pain there. Plus I just couldn't do that to Gideon, zombie or not. He'd only ever been nice to me, for the most part.

"I've been told you're running tomorrow." I just stood there frozen. How did he know that? Oh duh, he'd been at the tryouts. "It's dangerous. I don't think you should do it. You could be lose your life, and if that happened..." His blue eyes burned. I couldn't respond. His intensity was eating me alive.

"The thing on the bus, I wanted to tell you before. I really did, I tried to tell you before you came to the house, it's just..." he failed to finish the sentence. His lips hovered over mine for a second, but he hadn't bitten me yet. Instead he laid his head on my shoulder, dejected. The fire reduced momentarily. I took a breathe, realizing I'd been hold it.

"Isn't this the part where you eat me?" I said, wanting to get this over with. Scared that was what he had in mind.

"Eat you?" he laughed. "Oh, Mae. You are truly funny. Ok, fine. I want to devour you. But this isn't the time or place." My heart was racing, but not from fear anymore.

"You're going to get the chance at a major prize tomorrow." He licked my neck. I shuddered.

"It's not worth it, whatever this is," he said. I was only after one prize, and it wasn't the money everyone kept talking about.

"Let me catch you again and I won't let you go," he said into my neck. The words 'let you go' almost didn't penetrate the fog created by his touch. I had it bad.

"You're letting me go," I stammered out.

"Yes, but freedom has a price." That's when I felt his teeth sink in.

'This is how you die, Mae,' my mind told me. 'Unloved, and with your lip virginity in tact.'

I couldn't handle it. He might be dead and trying to eat me, but Gideon was the only guy in this world that I felt this way about. I wanted him to be my first, my only, and since he was a zombie, most likely my last.

I tore away from the bite. The mark he'd left was going to be hard to hide. I looked him straight in the face. His expression showed surprise.

"I wasn't quite done," he said. All I could see were his lips. I wanted them on mine, not on my neck.

I surprised him by lifting my arms up and around him. I didn't fight his embrace. Instead I used it to my advantage to lower his head to mine.

Our lips connected. The electricity buzzed through me, burning me from head to toe. It was the most wonderful feeling in the entire world. My head cleared of all thought. If I'd been able to form one, it probably would have been 'hmm' or 'wow'. But there was nothing there.

"Oh, M," he breathed into, me breaking the kiss. I could feel his body providing space between us. This was my chance. I broke away from him and made a mad dash to anywhere. He couldn't consume me if I wasn't around.

Sadly I knew that he'd be there tomorrow night. He'd made that clear. Somehow I knew if I had to face Gideon in that maze I was done for. I had less than a day left and I'd already lost.