Walking home was no big deal. Zed made it home in one piece. Well, his body was, his mind on the other hand, was in complete disarray. He even tried going to bed early that night, a poor attempt to shut out any wandering thoughts he might have had late at night. The thoughts intruded his mind anyway.
They were going to kiss. Like, kiss, kiss. Something couples do. Zed felt his face go hot and grabbed a pillow off his bed, shoving it over his face.
Get your act together, Zed! You shouldn't be focusing on this, you have more important matters, like how Wyatt had looked to be in pain beforehand.
That's right. He had claimed it was from eating so much froyo, which to be fair, could be true, but it was so abrupt that Zed didn't want to believe it. Wyatt needed a good excuse to get out of the situation, and opted for a stomach ache.
It's not a big deal. Wyatt retreated because he changed his mind, so what? It wouldn't be the first time someone wanted to get away from Zed.
Just because Zed gets butterflies thinking about Wyatt's smile and constantly thinks about the feeling of his lingering touch on his arm means nothing. He and Addison broke up and now his mind is just desperate for romance. That explains everything, he doesn't have a crush on that sweet, handsome werewolf, that smells like pine and-
"Argh!" Zed throws a pillow at his shelf, knocking off a few figurines and trophies.
He ran his hands through his hair and paced in circles, kicking objects that had the misfortune of being in his path. He stopped in front of an empty wall, thumping his head against the wooden exterior with an audible groan.
He stood there for a few seconds before he heard a gentle knock at his door. Zed turned to look and saw Zoey's green hair poking out from the barely cracked open door.
"Uhm, are you okay? You sound mad." Her voice sounded uncertain.
"It's nothing." Zed said with a smile, albeit forced. "I'm just thinking about football practice next week. School is a little stressful and the ACEY's are a bunch of idiots." He added a laugh at the end. He didn't think Zoey believed him.
"Is this about Addison?" She asked as she stepped farther into the room.
His stomach sank at the name. His brain was essentially fried by the events that took place over the entire weekend. Hearing her name again after the turmoil hurt him, and he reflexively hugged himself.
"Not necessarily," he shrugged. It wasn't directly about her, more like the aftermath. Wyatt shouldn't have anything to do about his feelings on Addison. "I just think there was miscommunication about some stuff."
"Miscommunication?" Zoey frowned, "How can there be miscommunication? Just talk to them."
Zoey's blatant response caused Zed to burst into a laugh, flopping down onto his bed backwards. She's right! He should just talk to him and fix it right up, but there's something about it that makes it so much harder. Thinking of talking to him about an almost kiss? No thanks, it makes his stomach churn. Zoey's answer is so simple, but Zed's feelings make it so complicated.
"You're laughing about my obvious answer, so I assume it's something more." Zoey rolled her eyes.
Zed sat up on his bed, "Since when did you become a relationship counselor?"
"Since you started being a bum bum around the house." She stuck out her tongue at him.
Zed lunged for her and she squealed, trying to run away from him. She failed miserably as Zed yanked her, tickling her sides.
"You're the bum bum, dummy!" Zed said in mock anger, watching as Zoey laughed.
"Stop it!" Zoey demanded between laughs. "Or I'll tell Wyatt you like him!"
Zed immediately stopped and Zoey kicked his hand as she scrambled to stand up. "Oooh, you do like him!" Zoey giggled and Zed felt his face go red.
"I don't like him."
"Sure." She smiled wickedly and scampered out of the room, continuing her giggling through the hall.
Or at least he probably shouldn't.
"Thank you all for coming today!" Coach boomed, clapping the shoulder of a teammate, giving a big smile. "Means a lot to me that you guys didn't mind me taking a little longer selling froyo this season. Even though we have a game around the corner, I have 100 percent faith in this team because of our secret weapon. Zed."
The team whooped and Zed just stared blankly. He was expecting a polite clap or displeased grumbling from the team. He assumed the team would be upset at the Coach isolating him as the best player.
"Let's go Zed!" Chris hollered. He was a human, a little shorter than Zed, but beefier in build with light brown hair. He put Zed in a headlock, ruffling his hair and his teammates joined in, messing with him.
"Alright, alright." Coach calmed down the rowdy boys. As they separated, Zed smiled weakly. "Since you all have so much energy let's get in some laps to let out that steam! Let's go, let's go! Hussle!"
The laps Zed usually didn't mind, but today was different. He should be excited that he's able to play football again, but there's too much going on in his personal life for him to enjoy football.
Zed frowned. He can't enjoy football? That's an issue.
Chris ran up and bumped his shoulder to get his attention. "You good man? You didn't even hit me when I messed with your hair."
"I'm good, just tired." He lied.
Chris made a face but didn't pry. "If you say so. I'm always up for talking after practice." He nudged Zed again and smiled before jogging ahead of him.
Practice isn't bad, he's just being emo for no reason. His teammates are glad he's back and he has a good way to get any overbearing emotions out of his system. However, Zed has a nagging feeling the entire time during practice. It causes him to fumble the ball several times and he even trips over his own feet on the track.
He could feel the stares from the other football players and Coach on his back. Zed felt his spirits dip when Coach shook his head as he missed another throw.
Coach eventually rounded them all up and did his routine pep talk before sending them all to the locker rooms. Zed lingered.
"Hey, Coach. I'm sorry about today's practice, that wasn't my best performance and I know it." Zed rubbed his neck. "I'll be staying after to practice by myself. So don't worry, I'll be ready by our next practice!"
Coach gave him a smile and ruffled his hair. "It's alright son, we all have our off days. I'll be holding you to that statement though" He gave a stern look and turned back to his fond smile. "Be careful." He gave him one final pat and turned to leave.
It was hours before Zed even considered leaving the stadium. His legs buckled and stuttered under him with each passing step (and he may or may not have lost feeling in his pinky finger, but that's probably fine, right?) and his skin was covered in sweat. He dropped the ball to the floor before letting his body collapse onto the turf.
The zombie stared blankly at the night sky, vaguely counting the stars surrounding the glowing crescent moon as he tried to catch his breath. Preoccupying his body with physically demanding work is just what he needed to forget about this whole week.
However, now that he's not working, his mind is slowly trailing away from its fog and coming back to his disaster of a teenage brain.
The wolves weren't at school the entire week. Not a single one. Rumors popped up, that they finally ditched town, or they were all detained by security and sent to zoos. Zed rolled his eyes at the thought of anyone even remotely believing those stupid tales.
Eliza had tried to visit them, but was quickly shut down by whoever was at their borders. She told Zed that they weren't accepting visitors until further notice.
He missed seeing them in the halls, watching them all travel in a pack and growling at people that gave them dirty looks. Zed found it amusing when Wyatt would smirk or wink at the sneering students.
Oh, yeah. Wyatt.
Zed tousled his hair even more than it already was and rolled around on the fake grass. No, no, no, no, he doesn't need this right now. He let out an exasperated sigh and quickly stood up, regretting it when his vision swayed a little too hard.
I'll just grab my stuff and go.
Zed walked over to his duffle bag and quickly changed out of his sweaty jersey into a clean purple shirt. He took a sip of his water and threw on the strap of his duffle bag. His watch read 9:08 PM.
Damn, he stayed later than he thought.
Zed gathered up his items and turned to leave. He heard a sound and stopped. If it weren't for the silent night air, Zed would have missed it. He waited with a baited breath and finally heard it again. A howl.
He hears them throughout the night all the time, sometimes insistent back and forth howls that would make him cover his ears with his pillow to get some shut eye. However, this one was the first to actually call to him.
He felt his limbs tug him forward and Zed stumbled along, barely catching himself with the flat of his palms.
"What the-?" Zed pushed himself up once again and stilled upon hearing the howl once more. It sounded lonely, injured even, and Zed was so confused as to how he could even comprehend that. He's never been able to tell them apart before.
His legs pulled him forward and Zed followed the movement. He hesitantly continued to walk forwards, afraid of getting knocked to the ground once more. No tugging sensation followed and Zed cocked his head. He turned on his heels and made to retreat when a howl echoed one more time and he was knocked flat on his ass.
"I'm walking! Alright!" Zed threw his hands into the air and pushed himself in the direction the persistent force was egging him towards.
The howl sounded louder the closer he got and far more panicked. Demanding he come right away and Zed listened. He dropped his bag and broke out into a sprint as he slipped past the Forbidden Forest gate.
Why can I hear it, why can I understand? Zed panicked as he began to run faster, weaving through trees and jumping over bushes. What the hell is he doing!?
His heart thundered as he broke through a few low hanging branches and went tumbling into a clearing.
His eyes caught upon a boulder sitting in the middle of the clearing. Vines and moss curled around the structure, similar to the surrounding trees. The moon illuminated through the leaves, leaving a spot light leading directly towards the rock.
Zed walked around the rock in fascination, letting his hand drag along the surface. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he heard a branch snap from behind him.
He whipped around, putting his back against the rock and stared hotly into the inky black of the forest.
"Who's there?" Zed called out. A few more branches broke as he was finally able to make out a figure emerging from the forest.
"You are not who I called for." A cascade of white emerged from the forest. The girl's skin is dark, clothes tattered and reminiscent of an explorer.
Zed stares for a beat too long before recognizing her. "Oh shit, you're the girl I ran into that night!" He points an accusatory finger at her and her face turns in disgust.
"Are you supposed to be some kind of deformed wolf?" She bites back and Zed flinches at her harsh words. Despite her lovely looks, her manners leave a lot to be desired.
"I'm a zombie. Green hair, pale skin, cold to the touch." Zed gestured his hands towards himself.
The girl gives him a once over. Her gaze was unnerving as it grazed over Zed's body. He felt like cattle.
"I do not care what you are. I want you to leave." She flicked her hand in his direction and tossed her hair over her shoulder. Zed was offended to say the least.
"Oh. No, no, no! I did not waste my time running over here, just for you to dismiss me. Who are you?" He asked and took a step towards her. The insistent howling came from this girl and she's brushing him aside as if he didn't just run nearly a mile to get here!
She frowned and bared her teeth at him. "Fuck off."
Zed rolled his eyes. "You know, you seemed a lot more docile when I first ran into you. Right now, you're just being bitchy. I came to see what was wrong and that's it." Zed sneered at her and turned tail.
He heard her howl, loud and obnoxious this time. He had to cover his ears for this one. It thundered in his ear drums and he felt one of them pop. He gave a groan.
Zed was three steps into his retreat, to leave whoever this random werewolf girl was, when he heard an echo of a howl. He turned to look at the white haired girl and she smiled at him.
"There they are." Her smile was all teeth.
Zed heard a crash from within the tree lining and turned to see Wyatt and Willa land gracelessly onto the grass.
(Heyyyy. It's been a long time LOL. Since the release of Zombies 3, I decided to release another chapter. Your guys' comments crack me up and make me smile. I love ya'll <3)