My Zombie Girlfriend

Chapter 3

The next morning, Zane agonized over what to wear. He would have to change right after football practice, and he wanted to look nice for dinner, but also cool for the party. He settled on a pair of distressed jeans and a striped button-down shirt with blindingly white Nikes.

The other guys teased him as he primped in the locker room. "Got a hot date, Gibson?" Ross asked.

Zane nodded, grinning.

"Don't keep us in suspense. Who is she? Nikki?" The other guys laughed at Ross's suggestion. "Hey, she's good in a pinch. And I know Zane has her digits."

"Nah, it isn't Nikki."

"Then who?"

"Do you know Harmony? She's one of the cheerleaders?"

Ross took a step back. "Harmony Gutierrez? Man, what are you doing?"

Zane had expected this reaction after what Wilson had said. He shrugged. "What? She's hot."

"You must like the bad girl type, then."

"Everyone keeps saying that. What's so bad about her?"

Mason, the six-foot-four offensive tackle, spoke up. "Major druggie. She's into some serious shit, man."

"No way." This came from Tristan. "Everyone thinks it's drugs. But really she's in a Satanic cult."

"Come on, guys," Zane said, turning away from the mirror. "She can't be into that shit. That's ridiculous."

"I heard she was like a black widow," said Tyler or Dylan. "She dates guys, then you never see them again."

"Get out!" Zane said. "That can't possibly be true! You're all just trying to freak out the new kid."

"Sure, man, sure," Ross said smoothly. "You have a good time. Let us know what freaky shit she gets into. I bet she's into that 50 Shades shit."

Zane rolled his eyes. "I'll be just fine."

But halfway through dinner at an upscale Mexican restaurant called La Placa, Zane wasn't so sure.

Everything should have been perfect. Harmony looked great. Tight red dress, bright red lipstick, legs for miles. He could stare at her all day. The restaurant was softly lit and quiet enough for some intimate conversation, had there been any conversation. At all.

"So, um, what kind of music do you like?" Zane asked.

Harmony stared vacantly at a spot over his shoulder for so long he wanted to turn and see what was back there. Finally she said, "You know. Whatever's playing."

He'd already asked her about movies, books, school... he had no idea what would get this girl talking. Maybe she just didn't want to talk to him. It wasn't like he'd ever been complimented on his own conversational skills. Maybe he was totally boring.

Finally their food came out, and he could fill his mouth with food instead of talking. It wasn't until he had devoured his gluten-free non-dairy organic burrito that he noticed the way Harmony was tearing into her carne asada steak with her teeth. Ripping bits of meat off.

"How's your steak?" he asked, wincing as she wrestled with an especially grisly piece of beef.

She moved her eyes to look up at him. She chewed and swallowed.

"Looks good," he said lamely when she didn't respond.

God, could he be any more boring? "How's your steak?" Obviously she liked it, eating it with such ferocity. He looked around the restaurant at the other diners, using forks and knives like normal people and chatting softly.

It was a relief when the bill finally came. Zane paid with a fifty-dollar bill then rose to leave. Harmony stood also, and Zane tried to be suave as he leaned toward her. "You've got a little sauce near your..." He brushed the glob of sauce from her lip, and put his finger in his mouth. "Yum."

She stared toward the door.

Damn, getting anywhere with Harmony was going to take a lot more than Zane's usual charm. He hooked his elbow with hers and they left the restaurant.

"You'll have to tell me how to get to this party," he said once they were both in the car. "I don't quite know my way around just yet." He smiled his most charming smile. Girls liked when guys admitted they didn't know where they were going, right?

"That way." Harmony pointed off toward the hills.

Zane did his best to follow Harmony's two word directions and vague finger-pointing. At one point he was sure they were going to end up in Mexico, but then a huge mansion appeared among the palm trees. Who was this Levi Marsh person?

"Harmony!" said a guy wearing non-prescription glasses and a fedora, standing outside the door smoking a cigarette. "Sam's waiting for you."

Harmony said nothing. Instead she took the cigarette from the guy and inhaled deeply, then blew the smoke in the guy's face. She didn't wait for his reaction before walking through the door into the mansion. Zane followed, mortified.

She led him through the house. Zane couldn't believe the debauchery going on around him. Couples were making out on the stairs, someone was doing a keg stand in the living room, a DJ was set up near a wall of windows overlooking a lit up pool, and several of the glass tables in the hallway were covered in white dust. He became suddenly aware of how squeaky clean his old school had been, how Disney-fied. Everyone was all about keeping a shiny image, even if they did sometimes raid their parents' liquor cabinets and wine cellars. Heroin chic was the style here.

Zane reached out and grabbed Harmony's hand as they passed through throngs of people and headed up the stairs. Her skin was cool and smooth, and he prayed she didn't notice his sweaty palms. All the way to the back of the house, where there were people slumped on the floor or standing with the help of the wall.

"Wait here," Harmony said, pressing him into the wall. He watched her go through a door and close it behind her.

He looked around, hoping both that he saw a familiar face and also that he saw no one he knew. He couldn't imagine any of his new friends at a party like this, and certainly didn't want them to see him looking so uncomfortable. The girl closest to him lay on the floor unmoving. She had on a short fur coat and an even shorter gold miniskirt. Her hair was covering her face. He watched her, waiting for her to take a breath. He was still watching her when Harmony finally emerged.

She wobbled a little as she approached him. "Here," she said, dumping some white powder onto the top of her fist and snorting it up one nostril. She put more on her hand and held it out to him.

"Oh, um..." He swallowed. "Yeah, I've never done coke."

She chuckled, a strange sound considering her mouth never smiled. "This isn't coke."

"I mean, I don't do drugs, I've never done drugs," he amended. "I've never even smoked pot."

"So you're a virgin?" she asked.

Was she finally flirting with him? He couldn't tell.

"Not in the literal sense," he said, smiling.

She held her hand up. "Come on. Try it. You'll like it."

"I just... I don't know about snorting stuff."

"Then lick it. Like this."

Harmony licked her hand. Zane could feel himself softening toward the idea. She was so damn sexy. One time couldn't hurt, could it?

***

Don't worry, there will be zombie gore coming along veeeery soon!