by Jen Wilde
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep. It’ll say, ‘Gary Busey is my new bae. He’s so much hotter than Jensen Ackles.’”
I gasp. “You wouldn’t!”
He narrows his eyes and grins. “Oh, I would.” He leans closer. “And I’ll be sure to include a ton of typos.”
My jaw drops. “Oh, you are going down!”
A loud screech erupts from behind us. We snap our heads around to see three zombies coming after us. Jamie starts running, taking my hand and pulling me with him. He looks back at me and smiles, laughing as we speed down the dimly lit path.
We reach a crossroads. Jamie looks back and forth. “Left, right, or straight?”
“Um…” A zombie materializes from the left, and then another two come at us from straight ahead.
We look at each other and both say, “Right.”
We run past a wire fence with over a dozen zombies behind it, all reaching out for us. One clutches my trench coat and pulls me in, and I scream, slapping it away. Jamie reaches out and wraps his arm around me, stepping between me and the fence. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as we shuffle through the dark hallway. He gives me a sideways glance and smirks a little when he sees me watching him, and I quickly look away.
“Hey,” he says.
I keep my eyes down. “What?”
“Look.”
He points to a door. We walk toward it, and he pushes it open. It leads to a quiet suburban street set. It’s night, lit by a lone street lamp, and there are three houses on either side of the road. A crashed RV has been dumped at the end of the street. A few straggler zombies roam the area.
“Should we go into suburbia or take our chances in the maze?” I ask.
He glances behind us and his eyes widen. “Suburbia.”
I look over my shoulder and see a horde following us. We run into the street, stopping and starting as we try to figure out which way to go.
“I remember this,” he says. “In the movie, isn’t this where Reese’s parents live?”
“Yeah.” I point to the first house on the right. “I think it’s that one. His mum and dad were zombies, remember? He saw them through the window.”
“Right. He did that awful crying face. Let’s stay away from that house.”
I look around. “How the hell do we get out of here?”
He keeps his eyes straight ahead as we walk, but takes my hand. I try not to read too much into it, but my mind immediately disobeys. I wonder if he meant to take my hand, or even realizes he’s doing it. It seemed like a very purposeful action, like he thought about it first. Or maybe I’m just overanalyzing it.
I’m good at that.
He looks at me. “Is this okay?” He nods to our entwined hands.
“Oh,” I say, pretending I didn’t even notice. I shrug. “Um, yeah. Whatever.”
I see something move on the front porch of the house to my left and stop walking.
“What is it?” Jamie asks, stepping closer to me.
I point to the zombie as it stands up and stumbles down the steps. More zombies emerge from inside the houses. There must be more than fifty. They’ve been waiting for us. I start to laugh hysterically because I don’t know what else to do.
“Come on,” Jamie says, and we run straight down the street. The RV is pushed up against a black wall, and with nowhere else to run, we jump inside.
“Look!” I point to another door, with warm light leaking in underneath it. “I think this is the exit.” I open the door and we jump out.
Jamie scratches his head. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the library scene,” I say, looking around the rows of bookshelves. Battery-operated candles on random shelves are all that light the room. “Which aisle?”
“Hmmm.” He surveys each one carefully. “Right.”
He holds out a hand for me and smiles when I take it. He definitely meant to do that. Now it’s impossible not to read too much into it. We wander down the aisle to the right just as the door swings open behind us. I press my back against the shelf to hide, and Jamie does the same. Peering over my shoulder, I see Charlie, Reese, and the EN crew climb into the room. I’m about to step out and let them know we’re here when a loud rumble shakes the walls.
One after another, zombies pile out of the RV and into the library. Charlie shrieks and they start running down the middle aisle. I press my palms to Jamie’s chest and push him as far back as we can go, until we reach yet another dead end.
“Shit!” I whisper.
A chorus of groans and footsteps passes us on the other side of the bookshelves, chasing the others. Jamie and I squeeze together against the wall, covering our mouths to keep our laughter from being heard. I’m irrationally terrified that they’ll find us. Once the zombie stampede passes us by, I realize Jamie is standing so close I can almost hear his heartbeat. Goose bumps spread all over my body, and my breathing becomes shallow. My back is against the wall, and he’s looking down at me.
“You okay?” he asks. His voice is quiet, soft, and thick with something I don’t recognize. I lock eyes with his, and a shiver runs down my spine.
“Mhmm. Fine.” My voice is a shaky whisper.
The danger has passed. We don’t need to hide here anymore, especially not in such close proximity. But still, neither of us moves.
He sees something on my forehead and frowns. “Are you bleeding?”
He touches the space above my right eyebrow gently with his thumb.
A few heartbeats pass before I reply. “It’s fake blood.”
My eyes are still watching his.
He looks relieved. “Oh.”
His thumb lingers there for a moment, then he traces it down the side of my face, stopping at my cheek.
I don’t know what to think. I’m almost certain I know where this is leading, but I dare not move or speak or even blink for fear that I’ll somehow mess it up. That he’ll stop touching me, stop standing so close to me, stop looking at me like I’m the most incredible sight he’s ever seen. He strokes my cheek with his thumb, and I close my eyes instinctively, savoring the feel of his touch.
When I open my eyes again, he’s looking at my lips. He sees me looking at him and gives me a sweet half smile. Then he leans in and touches his lips to mine. At first I’m so frozen that I don’t kiss him back, but then my brain realizes what’s happening, and I manage to move my lips with his. And the moment I do, it triggers something in him. He presses one hand against the wall behind me and the other to my lower back, pulling me into him. Inspired by his passion, I drape my arms around his neck. My head dips back, and I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him harder. He slides his other hand down the wall and around my waist, running his fingers up and down my back.
All the times I’ve imagined this moment collide into this one spectacular kiss.
All the years I’ve spent waiting for this have been worth it. Thoughts of what this kiss will mean for us try to intrude, but I push them away. For once, I don’t want to think about the past or the future. I just want to be here, in this dark little aisle behind a row of prop books, kissing the boy I’ve always loved.
When we eventually pause for air, the inevitable awkwardness hits.
He presses his lips into a sexy smile and looks down at me with hooded eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I say softly. I scratch the space behind my ear nervously, and then start to laugh. “This is so weird.”
His smile fades, and he looks wounded.
“Oh,” I say, covering my thoughtless mouth with my hands. “Ahhh. No. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, this is a little weird. But good weird.”
He raises an eyebrow, and I continue to word-vomit all over him. “I meant it’s weird that this is happening here, in the middle of a fake library in a fake zombie apocalypse.” I suck in a deep breath and try to compose myself. “So, to summarize: the kissing is good weird. Kissing here is just weird.”
His lips turn up into a crooked grin. My inability to fun
nel words from my brain to my mouth amuses him.
“The library may be fake,” he says. “And the zombie apocalypse may be fake. But this,” he puts his hands on my hips and kisses me again. “This is real.”
I don’t mean to, but I snort with laughter. He hangs his head and rubs a hand over his face, laughing with me.
“I know, I know,” he says. “That was a terrible line.”
“So cheesy,” I say.
He nods, hiding his whole face in his hands now. “I panicked. I didn’t know what to say.”
I squeeze my lips shut, trying to force my laughter back down. “Hey, I don’t judge. I’m the one who said this was ‘good weird,’ remember?”
He lets his hands drop back to my hips and lowers an eyebrow. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.” He kisses me one more time. “Or that.”
I giggle, and he hangs his head again. “Dammit! I did it again, didn’t I? This is what you’ve done to me. One kiss from you, and suddenly I think I’m Ryan Gosling in The Notebook.”
“Oh God,” I say. “I hated that movie.”
“I know.” He sighs.
He locks eyes with me, and this time I kiss him.
CHAPTER 20
CHARLIE
Reese finds a door that leads out of the maze, and Candice continues the interview while we walk into a fake suburban street, complete with houses and gardens.
“So, Reese, is there a special girl in your life right now?”
“No,” he says matter-of-factly.
“What about you, Charlie? Any special guys?”
I smirk. “No. No special guys.”
But one very special girl.
“Well, I’m sure the Chase fans will be very excited to hear that you’re both single, and here together no less!”
“We’re not here together,” I say. “I mean, we’re here, but we’re not together.” I laugh awkwardly.
A gurgling sound rumbles from our left. Saved by the zombie. Dozens shuffle out from behind the houses, forcing us to run down the street and take shelter in an RV.
“Hey,” Reese says once we’re inside. “Is that a door?” He shoulders it open and we jump out.
“Oh, sweet!” he says. “Library scene!”
“Wow,” I say as we enter the library. “This is almost an exact replica of the movie set.”
Reese and I creep forward, with Candice and the cameramen following closely behind. I think of the last time we were on a set like this. Reese and I were fighting about something stupid—I don’t even remember what, but I know I was hurting. I had been hearing rumors about him with other girls, and instead of confronting him about it, I started petty fights over nothing. Up until that time, insecurity had never been a huge problem for me. I had my moments, sure. I never quite felt like I fit in anywhere, but my parents and sisters taught me to be proud of who I am. I learned early on that I would choose being different over being part of the boring crowd any day.
But when I started dating Reese, something changed. I began doubting myself. For the first time in my life, I started to wonder if I was good enough. The days we spent in this eerie library set were when the cracks started to show.
That was when everything started to unravel.
My bottom lip starts to tremble as all those painful emotions come flooding back to me. “I have to get out of here.”
A chorus of groans erupts, and we turn to see a horde following us. I go full steam ahead, choosing the middle aisle, not waiting for Reese to catch up. If those cameras weren’t on me right now, I’d lock him in here and throw away the key. Pretending to be friends with him for the sake of the studio and the fandom has been much harder than I expected. He’s just a living, breathing, smiling reminder of how much I lost myself while I was with him—and how hard it was to find myself again after we broke up.
That’s why I need to keep my relationship with Alyssa away from the media until I’m ready. My heart can’t take a beating like that again—especially such a public beating. I reach the door and push it open, and the temperature rises about ten degrees. We’re in a small classroom, from the scene with Reese and me making out after school. It was one of the first scenes in the movie, but one of the last we filmed.
I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing I was anywhere but here.
“What is this? Ghosts of Heartbreaks Past?” I mumble.
“What was that, Charlie?” Candice asks, sticking the microphone in my face.
“Nothing.”
Reese stands next to me. “I remember this day.”
He looks down at me, and I can see the guilt in his eyes. That was the day the first photo was leaked of Reese kissing another girl. I’d seen it online—someone tweeted it to me—that morning, and then I had to spend the rest of the day making out with him. If that happened now, I wouldn’t do it. But I was broken down then. I couldn’t find my voice to say no. I’m not sure I even knew I could say no, that I didn’t have to do anything that would make me uncomfortable. I’ve been running from that day ever since. Running from Chase.
And now, I’m going to run again. I keep my eyes forward and force myself to move, heading straight for the exit. I burst through, shielding my eyes from the bright sunlight washing over us.
I’m surrounded by the sound of screams and people calling my name. My sight adjusts, and I see that we’re back outside. “Whoa!”
Word must have spread that we were in The Rising maze. Hundreds of people are waiting for us, squished behind a row of barricades. “How did they know we were here?”
Reese stands next to me, his chest out and hands on his hips like Superman. “I Snapchatted, remember?”
“Oh, right.” I grin at all the excited faces. “I’ll take the left, you take the right. We’ll cover more ground that way.”
And I won’t have to spend another second with you. We split up. I start talking to the crowd, posing for selfies with my most favorite people in the world: fangirls.
“You are my people,” I say as I pose for a group selfie.
Candice rushes over. “Charlie, what’s it like to have all these people screaming your name?”
I laugh. “It’s really flattering. I’m still getting used to it, but this is fast becoming one of my favorite parts of the job. I feel like everyone here is my best friend. They all know me so well from my vlogs, and to see them here supporting my movie is just so amazing. I’m eternally grateful.”
The crowd on Reese’s side starts cheering, and I look over to see he has taken his shirt off. Candice is gone so fast I can almost see dust swirling behind her.
I laugh and roll my eyes. “Typical Reese.”
“Are you guys back together?” a voice asks from behind me.
I turn around to keep posing for pics and shake my head. “Nope, just friends.”
“But everyone online is saying you’re together.” The fan looks behind me, toward Reese. “You are here together.”
“We’re here, but not together.”
It occurs to me that scrawling “Chase is dead” on my forehead would make my life so much easier.
He frowns, and I give him a hug. “It’s okay. I’m happy. Reese and I aren’t good together, anyway.”
“You are!” he insists, nodding. “You’re the best together.”
I know he means well, so I smile. Another fan holds her selfie stick out, and I get into position.
“I’m glad you’re not together anymore,” she says. I glance at her, surprised, and she laughs. “Not in a mean way. You just didn’t seem very happy then. You seem much happier now in all your videos.”
Her words sting because I know they’re true.
I nod. “Thanks. I am.”
CHAPTER 21
TAYLOR
When Jamie and I eventually tear our lips away from each other and find our way out, Charlie is waiting for us. There are people everywhere.
“Hey!” she says with a wave. “I was just about to send in a search party to look for you! Did yo
u get lost?”
Jamie glances down at me, pressing his lips into a line. At first I think he’s giving me the chance to tell Charlie—to make the move that will officially make us a “thing”—but then I worry that he’s hesitating because he doesn’t want Charlie to know. I start to freak out.
“Um,” I start. “Not exactly.”
My overanalytic mind takes approximately 3.1 seconds to come up with a thousand ways that our one kiss could ruin everything. Sitting pretty at number one is the very real possibility that I won’t get into UCLA—or any college—and Jamie and Charlie will be moving across the Pacific Ocean without me and never coming back. Hot on its tail at number two is the risk of getting my heart broken a million other ways, in which case I would lose one of my best friends.
Am I supposed to tell Charlie? What if he wants to keep it a secret? Was it just a kiss to him? There are so many reasons this might not last. He would know that. So maybe this was just a momentary lapse in judgment? A mistake? I have no idea what I’m doing. How could this ever work? Why didn’t I think of the consequences before I kissed him back? This could end badly. All these thoughts and more explode in my mind like fireworks, freezing me in a panic.
Charlie narrows her eyes, looking back and forth between Jamie and me. “Am I missing something?”
I chicken out. “Nah. We’re just slow, I guess. You wanna grab something to eat?”
I sneak a look at Jamie. He’s frowning, and a wave of nausea rushes over me. Is he mad at me now? I have no idea what’s happening. I should never have let him kiss me.
Charlie isn’t convinced, but she lets it go. “Yeah, I could eat.”
We start walking to the diner Jamie and I went to yesterday, none of us saying a word. Everyone around us is laughing and talking and enjoying the vibrant SupaCon energy, but all I feel is awkward tension. In the few minutes it takes us to walk to the diner and find a booth, I’ve made myself sick with worry. Suddenly this feels like the longest and most exhausting day of my life.
The instant we sit down, Charlie’s phone buzzes. She looks at the screen and sighs. “It’s Mandy. Be right back.” She slides back out of the booth and goes outside to take the call.