"No, I'm not going." Eliza said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Zed pursed his lips, telling his eyes at her stubbornness. "C'mon Eliza! You'll love it, trust me!"
Eliza huffed, still not budging. "Zed, why would I want to give my money to the humans? I would rather go support Zavier's Caulibrains stand than that…that human yoghurt shop."
"Eliza, stop being irrational and come with me to try this Froyo!" Zed exclaimed, taking Eliza's arm and dragging her towards Seabrook.
Eliza huffed, but allowed herself to be dragged away. She would never admit it, but she was curious about this 'froyo.' Zed had talked it up so much, telling her all about his favorite flavor, vanilla.
She let her best friend drag her about half way before she tugged her arm out of his grasp. She straightened her outfit, and continued to follow Zed down the path. She could walk herself, thank you very much.
Zed kept clamoring on about how good the flavors were, about how much she would love it. Eliza just rolled her eyes at his antics, he was basically a tall-ass child. He would be lost without her.
As the two zombies crossed into Seabrook, the mood changed. People were staring at them, like they were diseased or something. It had only been a few weeks since the cheer championship, so zombies being out was odd to the humans.
Zed took the attention like a champ, smiling at everyone as they passed by, but Eliza didn't. The stares made her skin crawl, made her want to go home. She was all for the attention when she felt she deserved it, like for her protests, but she didn't like this. It made her feel like an animal locked in a cage, like she was a pariah.
As if he could feel her uneasiness, Zed grabbed Eliza's hand and tugged her into his side. He threw his arm around her shoulder, and winked at her. Knowing she had her best friend by her side made her worry fade away. No matter how strong she was, she knew she could always fall back onto Zed.
They finally got to the froyo shop, and Eliza noticed that the normal 'no zombies allowed' sign was missing. So the humans were changing, just slowly. The two friends walked into the store, and again received looks from the patrons. Zed paid them no mind, and grabbed a table next to the shop's front windows.
"Eliza, you sit. I'm gonna go get our froyo." He said, pulling out a seat for her.
Eliza frowned, but sat down. "Zed, you should let me choose my own flavor, and you know, pay."
"Nonsense! I dragged you down here, I pay! Also, you don't know these flavors like I do, I'm going to bring you the best ones! Just trust me, ok?" Zed asked, puppy dog eyes out in full force.
Eliza sighed and nodded her head. Her best friend was an idiot, but she had a hard time telling him no. She chuckled as he basically skipped his way to order, and she took that time to take in her surroundings.
She could see zombies walking outside, laughing and mucking about. Humans were intermingling with them, hesitantly, but smiling. She was extremely happy that zombiekind were being accepted, no matter how slowly. She just wished it didn't take her entire life to happen. 15 years of resentment and hatred thrown her way, and then suddenly a white haired girl comes around, and everything changes.
She didn't get a chance to muse any longer, as Zed came back and sat three froyos in front of her. Three, exactly the same, froyos. She frowned questioningly and glanced at Zed. He was already happily munching on his own froyo, which looked the exact same as the other three. He saw her glance, and smiled widely, motioning for her to try them.
"Zed…these are all the same…" She said hesitantly.
Zed scoffed, and sat his froyo down. "No, that one's vanilla," he motioned to the one on her left, "that one's double vanilla," motioning to the middle one, "and that one's triple vanilla! They're different!"
Eliza's frown deepened. "Zed, they're all vanilla. They're all the same!"
"No, Eliza, just try them! You'll see! They each get richer in their vanilla flavor! I personally like the double vanilla the best, rich, but not too rich." He said, motioning to his own froyo.
Still skeptical, Eliza picked up the vanilla flavor, and scooped a spoonful into her could have moaned in pure bliss, but she held it in. The vanilla was so good! She closed her eyes and savored the flavor. She had never tasted anything so good, she needed more.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Zed grinning ear to ear. His eyes said 'I told you so' but the words didn't fall from his mouth. She glared at him and picked up the second one. If Zed was right about the first one, he had to be right about the others. She took a bite of the double vanilla, and was prepared to be amazed again, but the same pleasure didn't hit her.
Don't get her wrong, it was still very good, but it was the same as the original vanilla. She frowned slightly and picked up the third and last vanilla. She hoped this would have a richer taste, but she knew it was going to taste the same.
Taking a scoopful, she found was correct in her assumptions. Zed had bought four of the same froyos, thinking that they were different. She looked at her best friend, and he looked at her eagerly.
"Ok, so which one is your favorite?" He asked excitedly.
Eliza grimaced, and glanced at the three froyos.. "Zed, I hate to tell you this, but they're the exact same."
Zed rolled his eyes. "No they're not Eliza, we talked about this! It's subtle, but they're different!"
Eliza sighed and shook her head. She knew there was no arguing with him. "Sure, Zed. i liked the first one the best."
"Oh! Good choice, good choice. That's Addie's favorite!" He said, going back to scarfing down his frozen vanilla treat.
Eliza chuckled and grabbed the first froyo, not that it mattered, as, again, they were all the same. She was realizing just how far she would go to keep her best friend happy, even if that meant putting her opinions on the back burner, where it mattered. She was still going to rule the world one day.