“I ran into Lew after I left your house, and he gave me a ride home. He wants to take us to this Cuban sandwich shop where his friend Javier works when we’re done at the library on Friday.”
“Okay, back up.” She held up one hand. “Who’s Javier, why are we going to the library on Friday, and how did you run into Lew last night?”
I explained it all to her, then I said, “Isn’t that great?”
“You’re something else, Gwen.” She shook her head, clearly in awe of my social skills. “And I can’t believe you included me when I know you’d rather be alone with Lew.”
“Oh, well…” I tried to look like it was no big deal. “What are friends for?”
A twinge of guilt poked me for not telling her it was Lew’s idea to invite her, but it disappeared when I saw the way she smiled at me. Okay, yeah, I was happy to take the credit. So kill me—again.
Friendship had sure been a helluva lot simpler when it was just me and Cassie. Boys definitely complicated things. Especially when you both liked the same one.
* * *
All morning at school, I discovered that my sudden genius status in chemistry didn’t extend to my other classes as well. No big deal, but I had to wonder why Flo’s department hadn’t at least made me smart in math to impress Lew. Guess they thought that was just too much for anyone to believe.
Annalee reluctantly agreed to eat with me in the cafeteria, so we met in the foyer at lunchtime. Sidney waved us over to their table when he saw us walk in.
“Hi, Gwen. Hi, Annalee. We saved a place for you.”
I could tell he’d stressed Annalee’s name to point out that he’d gotten it right. I gave him a punch to the shoulder and said, “Thanks, Sid. You’re all right.”
He winced and rubbed his arm. “Wow, you’re strong for a girl.”
I traded looks with Annalee, and we both tried not to laugh.
Justin stood up and slid his lunch tray over to make room beside him. “You can sit here, Annalee. I want to tell you about that laptop to see if you think you might want it.”
She smiled shyly at him as she sat down. “Thanks, Justin.”
I’d noted that Lew was missing as soon as I came in, but I knew he was at school because I’d seen his Corvette in the parking lot that morning. Trying to be casual about it, I took out the apple I’d brought for lunch and turned to Sidney.
“Where’s Lew today?”
“He’s helping Ms. Fountain with the computers in her keyboarding class,” Sidney replied. “Somebody keeps putting passwords on them and locking her out. She’s a nice lady, so Lew always fixes them for her.”
I saw Annalee listening to Sidney while she pretended to be engrossed in Justin’s animated description of the laptop’s specs. I gave her a smile to let her know I was on to her and got an eye roll in return.
“Yeah, you told me he was a computer whiz,” I said to Sidney. “Maybe I’ll see if he can help me with a little problem I’ve got.”
“Oh, he can for sure,” Sidney replied. “He hacked into the school’s enrollment database once and added a couple of new students named Tony Stark and Peter Parker. Everybody cracked up when they got called to the office for skipping.”
I was glad to hear Lew didn’t mind yanking authority’s chain sometimes despite being such a model student. Not that I intended to lead him astray or anything, but it was good to know he might be a little understanding if I got into trouble from any zombie shenanigans.
Loud voices behind us made me turn around just in time to see a girl at Matt’s table stand up and pour a carton of milk on one of his jock buddies then run out of the cafeteria in tears. The rest of the guys at the table collapsed in rude laughter. Most of the girls giggled, but a couple of them looked disgusted and left the table.
“What do you think that’s about?” I asked Sidney.
He turned to look. “I heard two cheerleaders talking in second period about something that happened at a party over the weekend. I think the girl that dumped the milk on Scott’s head was who they were talking about.”
“What happened to her?”
He shrugged. “All I heard was that she asked for it by getting so drunk.”
“Sounds like she could use some less bitchy friends.”
I didn’t know why, but it really pissed me off the way this unknown girl was getting treated. I decided to find out what had happened to her.
“Hey,” I said to everybody at the table, “does anybody know that girl’s name who just ran out?”
“It’s Caitlin Warner,” Justin said. “She’s in my World History class.”
“You know her?”
“Just her name. But she did tell me thank you one day when she dropped her pen and I picked it up for her.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Sounds like she might be sweet on you, Justintime.”
He smiled then sobered when he looked at Annalee. “There’s nothing between us though—for real.”
“Oh, okay.” She smiled then looked at me. “Why do you want to know about her, Gwen?”
“I’ll tell you tonight at my house. It kinda goes along with that other stuff I promised to tell you.”
From the look she gave me, I could tell she had a pretty good guess about what I meant and felt the same way. Who knows, maybe Annalee would end up being Zombie Girl’s sidekick—Book Babe.
* * *
When Lew smiled at me as I walked up to our table in chemistry class, I managed to keep from breaking into a skip like a total dork.
“Hey, partner,” he said. “Glad to see you didn’t adopt the look in your profile picture as your new style.”
“Inside joke,” I said as I sat down. “I could explain it to you, but then I’d have to eat your brain.”
He laughed. “From what I’ve seen of zombies, I’d like to think I could outrun you.”
“Yeah, but what about when you stop to look behind you in horror until I’m almost there and then trip over nothing when you finally start to run again?”
“You’re right, I’m a goner. May as well give up now.”
Oh, man. That definitely begged for some further interpretation that I would have to examine under a microscope later on. I studied his face closely to see if I could detect any hidden meaning, but all I saw was amusement.
“You know it, Captain Chess Champ.”
Oh, crap. Did I really just call him that out loud?
He laughed again. “Wait, with a name like that, maybe I’ll turn out to be your nemesis.”
Okay, that could have more than one meaning too. At least he didn’t seem to mind the nickname.
“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be in big trouble if we ever play a chess match to the death,” I said.
Matt walked past our table and sneered at both of us. “Still settling for Junior when you could be tapping Daddy’s bank account?”
I returned his sneer. “Still wasting oxygen meant for people with a brain?”
Lew laughed and Matt slapped the back of his head. “What’d I tell you, rich boy?”
I stood up, ready to throw Matt through the window, but Lew pulled me back down.
“Ignore him, Gwen. He’s just trying to prove he’s a tough guy to everybody, including himself.”
Mr. Forrester walked over before Matt could do anything else. “Mr. Winston, I thought I made myself clear yesterday when I told you I wasn’t going to tolerate any more aggressive behavior from you. Do I need to go have a talk with Coach Morton about it?”
“No, sir.” Matt’s arrogance disappeared. “Please don’t say anything to Coach. He’ll bench me for the Coral Gables game Friday night.”
“Then I suggest you keep that in mind the next time you let your testosterone dictate your actions.” He waited for Matt to take his seat before looking at me and Lew. “And I would also remind you two of the warning signs at the zoo about taunting the animals.”
“Yes, sir,” we said at the same time.
Oh, yeah. I definitely
had to find out the story behind Lew and Matt’s feud. And that reminded me of the other mystery I was working on.
“Hey, do you know a girl named Caitlin Warner?” I asked Lew.
He shook his head. “Not really. I know who she is. Why?”
I told him what happened in the cafeteria at lunch and what Sidney had told me. “Any idea what it’s about?”
“No telling with that crowd. Why do you care?”
“I’m not sure I do. But even if she was stupid enough to get so drunk that she didn’t know what she was doing, I don’t like the idea of those jockstraps taking advantage of her and laughing about it.”
He looked at me intently for a moment. “I can’t believe I was so wrong about you at first. You’re really something.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot more to us zombies than meets the eye,” I said. “Don’t forget that, Triple C.”
He laughed loud enough to get a warning look from Mr. Forrester. Guess I was leading him astray after all.
When Mr. Forrester passed out the test papers from the day before and handed me mine, he said, “Congratulations, Miss Stewart. Yours was the only perfect score in the class.”
“Wow, I’m impressed,” Lew said. “Let me guess—chemistry is another street skill.”
“Actually, yeah,” I said, “but I don’t think the meth labs use chemical analysis or the scientific method.” I could tell he didn’t know how to take that, so I added, “I was strictly a cheap wine girl myself. Thunderbird, vintage 2010.” I didn’t think Flo would mind if I tweaked Gwen’s rep a little.
When the bell rang, Lew walked me to my locker. Matt made sure to bump him with his shoulder when he passed us, but he didn’t say anything or stop.
“Say the word and I’ll take him out,” I said, only partially joking.
Lew sighed. “Not worth it. Just ignore him like you would a gnat.”
“I squash gnats,” I said. “Are you ever gonna tell me why the two of you hate each other so much?”
“Probably not. Can’t afford to lose my mystique, you know. See you later.” He winked and turned to walk down the hall.
I stood there watching him go, grinning like an idiot because he’d winked at me, and more determined than ever to find out his secret.
* * *
Annalee was already on the bus when I got on.
“Ready for our slumber party?” I said. “Do we need to go by your house and get you some clothes for tomorrow? You can always just wear some of mine if you want. We’re about the same size.”
She looked from her chest to mine and laughed. “The same height maybe.”
I rolled my eyes. “Look, I’ve got a couple of shirts and some jeans Karen bought me that don’t fit right. She can’t take them back because they’ve been worn. You can have ‘em.”
I could tell she was embarrassed by the charity offer, but I could also tell she was happy at the prospect of some new clothes. I was pretty sure she’d been wearing the same pair of jeans all week.
“Okay,” she said. “If you’re sure your foster mom won’t mind.”
“Karen’s great. If I’d had a mom like her, maybe I wouldn’t be so screwed up right now.”
“Trust me, I know what you mean.”
She slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. I did trust her, and I decided I was gonna tell her everything once we were alone.
Unfortunately, when we got off the bus and saw Dougie and two other guys standing beside a car parked down the street, I knew it was gonna be awhile longer before we’d get to have our talk. And I also knew I wouldn’t need to convince her of my super zombie strength, because she was about to see it for herself.
“Let’s go the other way,” she said. “The bus stops again on the next street. Maybe we can catch up to it and get back on.”
“No, I got this.” When she started to argue, I took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You wanted to know everything, right? Well, you’re about to witness some of it.”
She looked from me to the boys walking toward us. “You sure you can handle all three of them?”
“Positive,” I said, although I was just guessing. “Make sure you stay far enough away that you don’t get caught in the crossfire. Okay?”
She nodded and we started walking again.
“’Sup, slut?” Dougie said when they were about fifteen feet away from us. “Teaching your little white trash friend how to make some extra cash?” He and his two friends looked at Annalee and laughed. “Good luck finding anybody desperate enough to hit that.”
Oh, no he didn’t just say that about my best friend.
The red filter reappeared over my vision. I stopped walking and glanced slowly from him to his two friends, then I took a step closer and looked Dougie in the eyes.
“You shoulda brought more backup, asshole.”
Chapter Fifteen
I had always laughed at movies where the good guy whips five or six thugs at a time, but I knew without a doubt that I could’ve easily handled three or four more besides Dougie and his two buddies. And I didn’t even need them to dance around stupidly while they waited their turn to get their butts kicked.
Dougie grabbed my left arm and twisted it hard enough to dislocate it. I laughed in his face and punched him in the gut with my right hand, laughing harder when it lifted him off the ground several inches. All the wind came rushing out of his mouth in one big oof, and he fell to his knees with his arms wrapped around his belly, his eyes bulging like an astonished trout.
The other two guys were startled enough by what I did to Dougie to make them freeze for a few seconds, then I guess their clueless male egos took over because they each grabbed one of my arms and tried to pull me toward the car.
“Let’s go, bitch!” the taller one said. “We got a little party planned for you. Pete, go help Dougie up.”
“Nah, Pete,” I said. “Don’t bother.”
I jerked my arms free and grabbed both of them by the back of the neck, then I banged their heads together the way countless goons had met their fates in cheesy action flicks. When I pulled them apart, their rolling eyes convinced me they were no longer conscious, so I threw them on top of Dougie who hadn’t yet regained the ability to speak. I waited a couple of seconds for the red to fade from my vision, then I bent over the pile of bodies on the sidewalk.
“Gonna have to pass on that party invite,” I said. “And if you get any brilliant ideas about trying something like this again or bothering my friend here in any way, the next party you go to is gonna be a kegger in Hell. I took it easy on you this time, but this is your last chance. Better remember that, asshole.”
Annalee had watched the whole thing from about ten feet away on the edge of somebody’s lawn, so I waved her over. She looked around like she was checking to see if there were any witnesses to the brawl, then she ran over.
“Let’s get out of here before somebody shows up and we have to explain what happened,” I said.
“Hold on a second.” She bent over the pile so Dougie could see her face. “I’ve hated you since kindergarten, Dougie Shaw. You’re nothing but an ugly bully with toxic breath, and watching you get your fat ass kicked by a hundred-pound girl was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Open your mouth about this to anybody, and I’ll tell the whole school how she creamed you. Oh, and here’s my white trash contribution.” She did a little pirouette on the hand sticking out from under Pete’s shoulder.
Dougie managed a groan, although he hadn’t gotten enough wind back to make it very loud. The two morons on top of him must’ve been hampering his respiratory recovery.
I took Annalee’s hand and ran down the street as fast as our laughter would allow us to run. When we turned the corner and reached Karen and Brad’s yard, we fell on the grass, still laughing.
“Guess I don’t have to worry about scaring you off with my mutant strength,” I said when I could speak again.
Annalee rolled over and rested her head on her bent arm. “That
was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. You were like a female Chuck Norris.”
“Nah, Chuck Norris doesn’t bother with less than six at a time. Smaller groups just beat themselves up out of embarrassment at being so pathetic.” We laughed some more, then I said, “Seriously, I’m glad that didn’t freak you out, ‘cause there’s a lot more that’s even freakier. Sure you want to hear it all?”
She nodded. “I’m sure. Besides, it’s not like I can pretend I didn’t see that and go around wondering whether you’re from Venus or you’re Superman’s long lost sister.”
“Nope to both, but you’re getting a little warmer.” We heard a siren approaching and got up. “Somebody must’ve seen the pile of assholes and called the cops. We better get inside.”
We ran to the door but slowed to a walk inside so Karen wouldn’t wonder what was going on. She was on the phone when we went through the kitchen and just waved at us as we went by. I grabbed two Cokes and a can of Pringles for appearances before we went upstairs to my room.
“You think they’ll tell the cops who did it?” Annalee said after we shut the door.
I set the Cokes and chips on my nightstand before flopping across the bed. “Not if they don’t want to be the biggest joke around. And even if they do, the cops are gonna have their doubts when they see me. I’m sure I can convince them that Dougie’s lying to get me in trouble because I turned him down. Do you know the other two guys?”
She took off her backpack and sat cross-legged on the bed. “I think the tall one was Dougie’s older brother. Never seen the other one before.”
“I’m guessing they’ll quit while they’re ahead and make up a story to tell the cops,” I said. “But even if they’ve got some stupid idea about trying anything else, they’re not gonna want any connection to me or you. Either way, they shouldn’t tell the cops anything about us.”
Annalee sighed. “I hope so. But maybe we need to get our stories straight in case we get asked about it.”
“Okay,” I said, “we can say Dougie tried something with me a couple of days ago and got a knee to the nuts, so he brought his brother and a friend to get even with me today. Somebody drove by and yelled at them to leave us alone, then we ran. That’s all we know.”
After Me Page 9