Claire lurched up like a zombie with a bad case of bedhead. Alex managed to choke her scream into a yelp and stepped on Jody's foot as she went back. Jody yelped back. The only one who wasn't yelping was Undead Claire, who remained upright through sheer force of grumpiness and still refused to open her eyes.
"Ow! Alex!"
"Sorry, Jody," Alex said quickly.
Claire screwed her eyes tighter against the sunlight filling her room, and let loose a whimper that sounded like a warning. Alex had known vampires who were more morning-people than Claire. "Whuz going on?" demanded iZombie.
Alex and Jody regrouped with a glance and Jody took the lead, flinging her hands out as if to conduct their two-person choir as Alex hurried to jump in. "Happy Valentine's Day!" they sang out. Tried to sing out. Claire cracked her eyes open to shoot them a glare.
"What," she said.
Alex gestured at the roses heaped on Claire's bed, petals in her hair and blossoms pooling in her lap. Claire glanced where she was motioning and seemed to be trying to figure out what all the red was. Alex rolled her eyes. "They're roses. Jody helped me put roses in your bed. I saw it on TV. It's romantic, right?"
"Alex's idea. I think it was sweet," Jody offered.
Claire blinked slowly at them. "Coooooooooool. Do I have to go to school today?"
Jody pursed her lips. "It's a Tuesday, so… not until… 2:00, I think?"
"Cool," Claire repeated, then flopped down and turned over with her back to the window. "Wake me up at 1:30," she muttered.
"Claire!" Jody started, scandalized, "Alex made you breakfast!"
"Don't worry about it," Alex said, "You go to work, I'll make her get up."
"No, you won't," came Claire's voice from the depths of Claire's pillows.
Jody sighed and studied Alex. "You swear?" she asked. "I know you had your heart set on that breakfast, I don't want it to go to waste."
"I swear. Go on, you got public indecency to stop." Alex smirked at Jody's groan.
"Valentine's Day is the w - " Sheriff Mills started again, but this time cut herself off. "Okay, okay, fine. Be good, you two!"
"We will," Alex promised. Claire seconded the motion with a grunt.
Jody pointed at the bed lump that was Claire. "And you, get up!"
Grunt.
"Good luck," Jody whispered. She gave Alex an encouraging pat on the shoulder as she left.
Alex listened for her footsteps going, going, gone. Then Alex sighed, sat on the edge of the bed, and leeeeeaned back to fall on blankets, her head dangling upside-down off the end. Claire didn't kick her off, which meant she was allowed to keep crushing her legs.
"Why aren't you at school?" Pillow-Talking Claire muttered.
On paper, because she had a fever. Really though? "Ditched."
"What a rebel. Wish I could ditch."
"You could've, if you hadn't used up all your sick days in the first month like a dumbass."
Alex felt something moving across the bed, knew it was Claire raising and dropping her shoulder.
"Did you really make me breakfast?" Claire asked.
Alex knew that question was coming, but it still made her bust into snickers. "Not yet. I knew you weren't getting up, so - "
"Waffles," Claire realized.
"Fresh from the freezer," Alex confirmed. "Or they will be. Like. Whenever you wanna get up."
"So… 1:30?"
"Guess so."
"Awesome," Claire yawned. Made Alex yawn, too. Claire's legs felt more like they were poking her in the back than they were before. Alex rolled off and landed on the thankfully carpeted ground on her knees.
"Move over," she grumbled, crawling on the side of the bed that had just a sliver more space. Claire didn't move, but she didn't completely ignore Alex either, shifting enough to give Alex a handful more blanket she was trying to tug free. Alex pulled it over her and found it turned out to be just enough.
