Before Zach could sneak off during lunch, Zeph grabbed his arm and pulled him toward their table. "Zach, where have you been?" Zeph asked. "Your Mom was looking for you last night. Like, she came to my house and asked about you."

Zach raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Zeph nodded. "I told her you were still at cheer practice. Did you ever go home?"

Zach shook his head. "I fell asleep at the old Power Plant," he said. It was partially true. He just left out a few crucial details.

"Where are you going now?"

"I have to work on the routine, I've been slacking lately and Bucky says we need to be perfect before we leave tomorrow."

Zephyr nodded along. "Okay. See you during next period then."

Zach offered him a wave then made his way to the gym. Bucky was already in there, rolling out the mats for stunting. The back wall of the gym was lined with boxes. Bucky looked up when he heard the doors closing and smiled when he saw Zach.

"I saw Addison a little bit ago," Bucky said. "What did you tell her, man?"

Zach shrugged. "What's with all the boxes?"

"Those are your uniforms," Bucky said. He turned over and sat down on the mat; Zach made his way over and sat down beside Bucky.

"I guess we should work on the routine, seeing as I'm not very good at it."

"Cut the bullshit, I know you were faking it," Bucky said. "Addison told me she's been working with you and your friends to get us together."

"Whoops," Zach said with little remorse.

Bucky rolled his eyes and smiled. "You're lucky you're cute," he said. He pushed himself to his feet and motioned for Zach to follow.

"Where are we going?"

"Locker room," Bucky said. "We can't make out in here. Someone could walk in and see."

Zach felt his face heat up as he stood and followed Bucky to the locker room. Bucky waited for him just inside the door, holding out his hand for him which Zach took a hold of. "Where are we going?"

"The showers," Bucky answered. "In case anyone comes in."

Zach nodded along. It was his first time in the gym locker room and it was nicer than any bathroom or anything he'd ever seen. They went around a corner and into a room that was filled with shower stalls, all with closed doors on them.

"Damn, Seabrook is fancy."

Bucky chuckled and pulled him into the furthest stall from the entrance. "Is this your first time in the locker room?"

Zach nodded. Inside the stall was a separate shower stall. Bucky snaked his hands up around Zach's neck and into his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. He pulled back with a smile on his face. "You're surprisingly good at kissing for a guy who constantly gets rejected," Bucky said.

"Ouch," Zach feigned hurt. "Is this coming from the virgin?"

"You're a virgin too!"

Bucky just laughed in response. "If you don't pin me against the wall I'll pin you against the wall."

"Oh! I wanted to ask if I could pretty please tell my friends about us?"

Bucky frowned. "Why?"

"Because I tell Roz and Alonzo everything," Zach explained. He pouted and gave his best puppy dog eyes. "They won't tell anyone, I'll make them swear. But I'll probably tell Zephyr too. Just because we're a band and we gotta stay close. But they won't tell anyone, I can guarantee."

"I don't even know how I feel about Addison knowing."

"That was your call, not mine." Bucky rolled his eyes but Zach didn't let up. "They're good people. Please?"

Zach wrapped his arms around Bucky pressed his lips to Bucky's. Bucky gasped in surprise as Zach moved down to Bucky's jaw, making his way up to Bucky's ear. "Please?" he whispered in a surprisingly husky voice.

Bucky whimpered in response. "Ye-Yeah," he stammered. "Just touch me. Please."

Zach held back a chuckle as he trailed his mouth down Bucky's neck. He pushed off Bucky's jacket then went about pulling his shirt up and off.

"You manipulative bastard," Bucky murmured.

Addison was walking with Zed to the cheer longue for their free period meeting. He was still a little salty with the interruption that morning, and that she would be gone all weekend (even though she assured him she was less than an hour away and he could come to see her at the championship).

"Zed!"

Zed groaned when he heard his name being called. "Can't I get a minute with you?"

"You spend every minute with me, Baby," Addison told him.

They stopped walking and turned to see Alonzo and Zephyr making their way to them. "Hey," Zephyr said. "We don't need you, I just keep forgetting your name, sorry."

"It's Addison," Zed answered. "Why do you guys keep coming to Addison anyway?"

"You guys? Who you guys?" Alonzo asked.

"Zach had a private conversation with her this morning," Zed complained.

Addison squeezed his hand and said, "Shut up."

Alonzo and Zephyr looked at them in surprise. "I know she's awesome but I wanna spend some time with my girlfriend."

"Zed, I'll see you in chemistry," Addison told him, letting go of his hand. "We have a cheer meeting."

"Fine, I'll see you," Zed said.

Addison raised an eyebrow at him. "Gimme a kiss."

Zed leaned down and kissed her. Addison patted his shoulder when he pulled away. "Don't be so bitter, I'll see you later."

Zed smiled and headed off in the opposite direction, throwing a wave over his shoulder at his fellow Zombies. Addison looked at them and shrugged. "What's up?" she asked as she turned to walk to the cheer lounge with them following her. "Be warned I'm a little pissed you can't remember my name. Especially because we cheer together."

"We haven't seen Zach in ages," Alonzo said. "We're worried, and we know you've been personally scheming with him and not including us."

Addison shrugged. "I have Zach on board which means I don't need to scheme with you guys," she explained. "The whole point of scheming is that I work to get Bucky to come around and you work to get Zach to come around. If Zach is already on board then you aren't needed."

"Ouch."

Addison shrugged. "It's the truth."

"Do you at least know if there's been an developments?" Alonzo asked.

Addison made an odd face. "We'll see both Bucky and Zach at the meeting. Catch Zach and ask him yourself. I don't know if there has been a development, but if there was anything you'd have to hear it from him."

Zephyr was pretty sure she was hinting at a development. Alonzo was a little confused. Roz knew what was up.

Addison opened the door to the cheer lounge as the bell rang. They were one of the last ones inside and Addison made her way to the front. Bucky was sitting in his 'throne' with the Stacey and Tracey on the arms and Lacey behind him. Addison couldn't help but notice how calm and peaceful and relaxed Bucky looked. Kind of like how Zach looked earlier that day.

Addison gasped and the four of them jumped in surprise. Lacey was the first one to recover. She looked at Addison in disgust and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Addison ignored her and looked at Bucky. "You–you! Oh you!"

"What about me?" Bucky asked.

"Outside! Now!"

"Excuse me?"

Addison dropped her bag and grabbed her cousin's arm, pulling him from his seat and to the exit. "Addison!" The Aceys called after them.

"We'll be right back!" Addison called back.

She pushed the door open and moved away from the clear walls, pulling Bucky in front of her. "What is so important that it couldn't wait?" Bucky asked, folding his arms.

Addison smirked knowingly. "You're screwing Zach!" she proclaimed (in a whisper).

Bucky immediately flushed bright red. Still, he denied it. "No way!"

"You so are," Addison said. "He told me that you blew him last night and then I walked in and I knew it! He blew you like twenty minutes ago!"

Bucky frowned and leaned in. "How did you know?"

"I'm sixteen, I've had a boyfriend for a year, and I literally run around this town doing whatever I want. I've been doing that stuff for two months—as far as you know. I know the face of a man who's gotten a killer blow—"

"Addy, I do not want to hear about your sex life," Bucky interrupted. "We have a meeting to run. Let's go!"

Addison laughed and followed him back into the cheer lounge.

"Okay, we've got some things to go over instead of practicing," Bucky announced. All conversations stopped and everyone sat up straighter as Bucky made his way to the front of the room. Addison stood beside the Aceys.

"As you all know, we're leaving tomorrow morning at eight thirty. You all need to be here with your suitcases by eight because I will leave your ass in Seabrook."

"We don't want to leave you," Addison clarified. "But we're leaving at eight thirty with or without you."

"I don't trust any of you, so the uniforms will remain here and you'll get them when we get to Manchester." Bucky said. "They are here and after this meeting you'll go and make sure they fit in all the right places."

"If they don't fit, you better find someone to swap with because we don't have any spares," Lacey stated.

Bucky handed stacks of paper to his four co-captains and assistant captains. They went around and handed out the papers to everyone. "They're gonna pass out papers which lists all the room assignments which have been finalized since Monday," Bucky explained. "There's four people in a room but only two beds so you have to share a bed."

"Girls and boys aren't in the same room and we put siblings of the same gender in the same room," Addison explained. "To minimize any sexual things. Who wants to do that stuff with your sister or cousin in the room?"

Bucky fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I don't care if you want to murder the person in the next bed. Suck it up, it's just a weekend. Now what we're gonna do tomorrow. It's a little more than an hour away so we'll check in as late as ten. All of our rooms are on the fifth floor, the other schools are on the other floors. Relax and everything for a few hours. We're performing fifth, and it correlates with our floor. So we get to practice fifth. At approximately twelve, right before lunch."

"Then we'll spend the rest of the afternoon at the gym," Bucky went on. "After dinner you're all going back to your rooms and staying there until Saturday morning. We have to be at the arena by nine. And after we crush the performance, we can relax. If we win…I might be generous and take you all on an adventure. We don't have to be back at Seabrook until ten at night on Sunday. So…consider it."

Lacey and Stacey and Tracey looked at each other in surprise. Bucky was never so considerate or making deals with the cheerleaders. Something really weird was going on with the captain.

"Lacey, Stacey, Tracey…and Addison. Go get the uniforms."

The four of them went through the gym entrance to get the boxes.

"We are representing Seabrook at the competition. We must be beyond perfect." Bucky explained. "School rules apply. No drugs or drinking or anything like that. You will be watched. There's gonna be six Zombie Patrol at the hotel; two are coming on the bus with us and the number will double during the competition."

"How come there are no Zombies in rooms with humans?" Rizzo asked.

"Izabelle Graves said she doesn't even want to share a bus with humans." Bucky shrugged. "Talk to your Zombie spokespersons if you've got a problem, cause these are the permanent room assignments."

The room was silent for a second. Then Bucky said, "You're gonna get a cheer bag with two uniforms in them and your pom poms, a bow, and socks. Make sure everything fits—I don't care about your socks—and then put everything back in the bags. Then you'll get your shoes. And then you'll give it all back to us so we can make sure they get to Manchester."

It took pretty much the rest of the period for everyone to get their uniforms and make sure everything fit. Bucky mostly sat back in his designated chair (which Addison wrongfully called a throne).

When the period ended and everyone had to head to their last period, Bucky was stopped by his co-captain Tracey. "Bucky," Tracey said. "Why is there another person in our room?"

"We got too many Zombie guys," Bucky explained. "We had one extra and you and I had our own room so I figured it wouldn't hurt to share."

Tracey gaped at him. "You didn't even ask me!"

Bucky shrugged as they left the cheer lounge. "It wouldn't matter because Principal Lee isn't gonna pay for a room for one more person."

"I thought the rooms were all expenses paid?"

"Only a certain amount," Bucky answered. It wasn't true, but Tracey wouldn't check. "If it makes you feel better, I'll share the bed with the Zombie."

"Why don't you and I just share a bed?"

Bucky narrowed his eyes at Tracey. "And let a Zombie get a bed to himself? I don't think so."

Tracey sighed but nodded. "Okay alright. Thanks man."

"Better run or you'll be late," Bucky told him.

"See you later!"