Zed was the first to stir the next morning. He felt entirely at ease just lying in bed beside Addison. She was still wrapped up securely in his arms and nothing could possibly make him let go. His arm beneath her head was a little numb but he would gladly take it in exchange for the feelings of love and happiness he felt just watching her sleep.
Addison soon woke up as well, she rolled herself over so that she could face Zed, mere inches separating them. "Good morning handsome." She said with a brilliant smile.
"Good morning beautiful. Did you have any good dreams?"
"Only the best, what about you?"
"Definitely I wish we could do this every night."
"Me too, but we still have one more day alone together. What do you want to do?"
"How about we just stay here for a little bit longer. I really don't want to give this up."
"I couldn't agree more."
They stayed in Addison's bed for a while just chatting with each other. And sneaking in a few kisses every so often. Once Zed's stomach growled they decided it was time to start their day.
"What kind of cereal do you like?" Addison asked him, "I think that's the simplest thing we can make and will be easiest to clean up."
"Do you have Cheerios?"
"Yes we do, do you like Honey Nut Cheerios?" Addison said pulling the box out of the cabinet, and also the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
"That would be perfect."
"Can you grab the milk?"
"Of course, Honey."
They ate in comfortable silence, just enjoying their breakfast and being together.
"What do you want to do today?" Zed asked.
"We could try to find something to do around here, or we could hang out in Zombietown."
"Do you have anything we haven't done yet?"
Addison looked around the house, thinking, "Oh I know we can play the Wii."
"What's a Wii?"
"It's a video game system but you have to move around to play it. Like we can do Wii Sports."
"Sounds cool."
Addison set everything up and when it was time to choose her character she decided to fix her Mii's hair, changing it to her natural white locks.
She also let Zed make his own Mii, but once he started he got way too into it, trying to make it perfect. He also did max out the height so that he towered over everyone else.
Once they started playing, Zed's first few games didn't go well for him. His golf and tennis swings were all over the place. But once they started bowling and playing baseball, Zed quickly took the lead.
"How are you so good at this?" Addison asked him as he bowled his seventh strike in a row.
"One thing Zombietown does have is a bowling alley, and Bonzo and I are the King Pins."
"Wow, you have to take me there sometime, as long as you promise not to crush me like you're doing right now. What's it like?"
"It looks a lot like the powerplant, mostly dark, but lit up with Neon everywhere. It's pretty cool it had a glow-in-the-dark theme before Z-day and it hasn't changed a bit."
"Well, it sounds great. Just one more thing we'll do someday."
"Now we need a tie-breaker, what other thing can we play?"
"We could do boxing." Addison suggested.
"No, absolutely not. Number 1. I already know how deadly your punching skills are, and number 2. I don't think I could bear to hit your beautiful character in the face." Zed argued.
"What if I made myself Bucky?"
"OK, I can live with that let's go."
In the end, they decided to pit Bucky vs. Bucky but that ended with both of them laughing out loud watching the fight play out on screen. In the end, Addison was able to keep her focus just enough to win.
"Do you want to try something else, ooh Mario Cart is a classic. It's a racing game and even comes with these steering wheel things."
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be awesome."
Addison chose Princess Peach, and Zed chose Luigi. "He's green so he must be the best." Zed joked. Addison let him have a few practice races before they raced for stakes, who gets to choose lunch. Zed quickly got into the game, and when they raced for real, they were neck and neck the whole way, first and second they constantly traded red shells with each other. Zed was just about to cross the finish line when suddenly out of nowhere he saw a blue shell flying across the screen and land on him, stopping him in a giant explosion. Addison had stayed just out of range and easily finished the race.
"What…What…What the heck was that?" Zed asked, speechless.
"That's the blue shell, it automatically targets first place."
"Did you know that was coming?"
"Yeah I saw it on the screen, that's why I let you take the lead that final lap."
"Rematch you set me up." Zed said in false frustration.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Addison said obliviously.
"Well fine, I suppose you win. What do you want to do now?"
"How about we go eat lunch with your dad and Zoey, even if we don't sleepover tonight, I would still love to spend time with Zoey, and finally try your dad's cooking."
"Sounds great."
Zed used Addison's phone to tell Pops they were coming which Zevon welcomed them to.
When they arrived Zevon had all the food prepared and Zoey was helping set the table.
"Addison!" Zoey called out excitedly. "I'm so happy you're here."
"I'm happy to be here too."
"Can you show me some more cheer moves? Please."
"I would love too, but how about we eat first?"
"OK." Zoey hopped up into her seat at the table, Zander by her side. "Addison sit by me!" She called out, patting the seat next to her.
"Alright." Addison sat down, Zed soon following right beside her.
"Alright lunch is served, we've got cauliflower steaks, veggie cabobs, and sweet potato casserole." Zevon announced with a flourish.
"It looks delicious Zevon, thank you." Addison said.
"You're welcome Addison."
They all ate and conversed happily around the table.
"So, what else are you kids up to today?" Zevon asked.
"I don't know, what do you want to do Zoey?" Addison asked her.
"Let's go cheer!"
"Alright I'm coming," Addison said as Zoey ran off.
Addison spent most of the afternoon with Zoey teaching her everything she could, even the Cajun-style funky chicken mashed potato split, which Zoey was able to get down in a snap. Zed was happy just to watch his two favorite cheerleaders have fun, while giving his own commentary and cheering on his cheerleaders.
Zed and Addison left Zed's house after they ate dinner with Zevon and Zoey.
"Are you sure you can't stay for a sleepover?" Zoey asked.
"Now now, my zombie angel, it's a school night, you have to go to bed at a decent time." Zevon told her.
"I promise Zoey I will have a sleepover with you someday and we'll stay up all night." Addison promised.
"OK, bye Zed, bye Addison." Zoey waved.
Zed and Addison walked back through the growing twilight arm in arm. They arrived back home and decided to just change into their pajamas and talk for a while. Sitting up in Addison's bed, with an arm wrapped around the other cozy under the blankets.
"This has been the best weekend of my life." Zed told her.
"I couldn't agree more. I don't know how I'm going to go back to sleeping alone tomorrow."
"I know I'll be thinking about you even more than usual."
"Do you think we're closer to someday yet? Getting my parents to accept us, I mean."
"I don't know, you'd know more than me. I've heard that as the school is changing, some of the adults are changing now too."
"Yeah, but my parents are still in the anti-zombie camp, and especially anti-Zed camp, I still don't think I've heard them use your name. Maybe we should stop trying to hide, just force them to accept that we're together, rather than having to sneak around. Zombies are in a better light than after the game now, so my Dad shouldn't be able to lock you up for no reason. Maybe I can invite you to dinner or something, force them to spend time with you, and see how amazing you are." Addison suggested.
"I'll do whatever you want me to, but I don't think dinner with your parents can be as fun as today was." Zed warned.
"Maybe you could bring Zoey, or you know what, bring your dad too, I don't believe anyone can be mad at Zoey, and if your dad's there maybe they won't completely explode."
"If we do something like that it's going to take a lot of planning to pull off."
"I know, so we will just wait for the right moment."
"Let's not talk about our parents anymore, I want to talk about you." Zed said, pulling Addison closer to him.
"What about me?"
"How you are the most perfect person I have ever seen, inside and out, and make me feel complete whenever I am with you."
"I know, I never could have imagined I would find someone who understands me as well as you do. I trust you to always be there for me whenever I need you."
"And you'll be there for me too."
"I love you Zed."
"I love you too Addison."
"Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza."
They then locked lips, and neither wanted to break away, they pulled each other closer so that there was no space separating them. They separated for air, but then picked up right where they left off. After a few moments, Addison opened her mouth and lightly swept her tongue against Zed's lips. Zed's eyes swept open in surprise and after locking eyes for a moment, he let out a growl and opened his mouth allowing their tongues to battle for dominance. This continued for a while, their arms wrapped around each other, trying to get even closer while keeping their connection constant. Until finally they broke apart, both gasping for air with the biggest smiles on their faces.
"That was..." Addison started
"Amazing." Zed finished for her.
Soon they were wrapped up together again, ready for their dreams to take them to their someday.
"Goodnight Addison."
"Goodnight Zed."
Monday morning, Addison's alarm woke them up so they could get ready for school. Unfortunately, they couldn't enjoy waking up with each other slowly like the last few days. Zed offered to shower first since he would be quicker he told her. And she told him to use her bathroom because Missy would notice any sign of Zed when she cleaned the other bathrooms. So while Zed was doing that, Addison was decidedly not thinking about him in the shower and did a quick sweep of her house to make sure there was no evidence that she and Zed were there. Once Zed finished he went downstairs and sat on the couch to wait for Addison while she showered.
As Zed was sitting there he was quietly singing to himself when he heard a sound that made his heart stop. Outside the door, he heard a car pull into the driveway, the car doors open and slam shut, and someone walking up the porch.
"Don't worry Missy, I have the keys right here." Zed recognized Dale's voice thanks to his zombie hearing. He heard the key turning in the lock and Zed sprinted back up the stairs as fast as possible. He ran into Addison's room and closed the door as quickly and quietly as possible before lightly knocking on the bathroom door and whispering. "Addison, come on please come out."
Zed heard the water turn off, and after a minute the door began to open. Zed immediately covered his eyes with his hands, now feeling embarrassed and guilty as well as terrified.
Addison opened the door just a crack, she smiled when she saw Zed's face. "What's wrong, you couldn't wait for me?"
"Addison your parents are home." Zed whispered.
"What oh no, they can't find you here or me here, like this!" Addison whispered back.
"What do we do?"
"First," Addison said opening the door wider, "I need to put some clothes on, you go in the bathroom."
Zed just froze where he was, refusing to move his hand. "Um, Addie?"
"Relax Zed I have a robe on, you just go in the bathroom and I'll be ready in a moment. You towel off the shower, my mom might notice its been used recently."
"OK." Zed said, finally removing his hand and opening his eyes. He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
Addison rushed to put on her clothes before opening the door again. Zed was just finishing wiping up any water he could see.
"OK good, I know my mom likes to check everything whenever she comes back from a trip, we'll have to hide in my closet until they leave. We should be safe there."
"I'll follow your lead."
They hid in the closet, sitting on the floor holding each other close, both terrified to make a sound. Zed was able to keep track of where Addison's parents were thanks to his Zombie hearing. He could hear that Dale was busy unpacking while Missy was walking all over the house, likely inspecting everything.
Eventually, Zed heard Missy walking up the stairs. "Addison, she's coming up." He whispered to her.
Both froze, barely daring to breathe, Addison locked Zed's hand in a death grip.
Missy opened the door to Addison's room. She walked in, and let out a huff. "She could have at least made her bed before she left." Missy said to herself, she walked into the bathroom for a few moments, and then walked back out.
Both let out the breath they had been holding. "That was close." Addison whispered.
"I think my heart actually stopped when she was just standing there. What time is it?"
"Its 7:55, we're gonna be late for school and then they'll call my parents to tell them I was late."
"Do you think they'll leave soon?"
"I don't know. Normally I think they would but they're probably going in later after working all weekend."
"So, our options are staying here until they leave or try to sneak out."
"Do you think we can make it?"
"We'll definitely get caught one way or another if we stay here, so I think we should take a chance and sneak out. How did you sneak out to come to the mash?"
"They were in the living room watching the news so I snuck out the backdoor off the kitchen, but if we go downstairs at all they'll probably see or hear us."
"So that leaves the window, I think I could climb down the side of the house and then I can catch you."
"I don't know but let's check it out."
They left the closet and slowly pushed open Addison's window.
"Do you really think you can do this Zed?"
"Of course, I have zombie strength, and the closest window is 5 feet away so it should be impossible to see us from inside the house. As long as Missy doesn't come out to check the flowers."
"Alright I trust you. You got this." Addison then gave him a kiss for good luck.
Zed slowly pulled himself out the window, still holding on to the sill. When he let go with one hand, he discovered the siding was a lot harder to grip than he planned but he could still do it. He moved very slowly, trying not to make a sound or fall. When he was about 3 feet from the ground he let go, and just barely avoided a patch of flowers. He looked up and gave Addison a thumbs up.
Addison smiled at him and threw down their bags. Then she took a deep breath, it was her turn. She pulled herself out the window and looked down at Zed.
"I'm ready." he whispered. "I got you."
Addison let go and felt herself falling. She clenched her teeth to keep herself from screaming, but a moment later, she was in Zed's arms, wrapped protectively just like at the pep rally. She put her arms around his neck as he leaned in for a kiss.
"Good job Addison, how much time do we have?"
Addison looked at her watch, "We have 10 minutes. We have to go now."
"I'll carry you, I'll get us there before the 2nd bell." Zed promised, slowly walking around the house.
"Zed I run too."
"But you don't have Zombie speed, don't worry, and hopefully everyone else should be at work so no one will see anything."
"OK let's do this Zombie."
Zed started sprinting after they made it a block away from Addison's house, Thankfully they didn't see any cars or other people out on the streets at all. Zed didn't stop until they made it to the front doors of the school before setting Addison down. Addison kept her arms wrapped securely around his neck, but she had a smile on her face both from comfort and admiration for Zed's strength and speed. They made it with 2 minutes to spare.
"You are amazing Zed, now goodbye we have to get to class," Addison said before she sprinted down the hall, joining the other stragglers. Zed took a deep breath before turning the other direction to go to his first class of the day. As he sat down literally 2 seconds before the bell, he turned to Eliza who gave him a knowing look.
"What happened Zed, why are you so late this morning?"
"I'll tell you later, it's a long story."
Addison just barely made it to her class before the bell rang, taking her seat beside Bree.
"So how was your weekend?" Bree asked with a cheeky grin.
"Amazing, even better than I planned."
"You are so filling me in at lunch, but aren't you excited to start this class?"
"Oh yeah totally." With her crazy morning so far, Addison had almost forgotten which class she was sitting in. Just as zombies were allowed back in normal classes, a new class had been added for the humans, Zombie as a Second Language. Addison, Bree, and around a dozen other students were excitedly waiting for their class to start.
"Good Morning everyone." Their teacher walked in, and Addison was surprised in spite of herself to see a zombie walk in with a broad smile on his face. He was average sized, nowhere near as tall as Bonzo or Zed. He had a neatly trimmed green beard and a shaved head. He wore black-framed framed glasses, and was wearing a bright green Seabrook polo shirt and darker green slacks, he looked quite similar to Coach actually.
"Hello, I'm Mr. Zidlicky, but you can call me Mr. Z if you want. I am just as excited to be here as all of you! Welcome to Zombie as a Second Language! In this class we will be going over the basics of Zombie Tongue, as well as delving into zombie culture and history to try to create more understanding between humans and zombies. Given that I know all of you signed up for this I hope you are excited as I am for this year."
"Now a little about me, I was teaching at Zombietown Middle School for several years before this and into this year, but when I heard about this opportunity to help improve things at Seabrook I applied right away. I believe you can't be afraid to break the mold in life. Garazeb! Now let's go around the room and everyone introduce themselves so I can put some names to faces. Also, everyone say something in zombie that you know already."
They went around the room, most students giving one word answers of things they knew when it got to Bree, she said, "Hi, I'm Bree and a word that I know in zombie is Gruzic.
"Ah Gruzic, music is one of my passions and I actually taught music to many students in Zombietown."
"Really, wait by chance did you teach Bonzo?"
"Oh yes, Bonzo is my star pupil, he was willing to try every instrument we had, and I even helped him build his own when he wanted to try something new. He has an amazing ear for music, even the most difficult pieces I could find, he could always play beautifully."
"So are you classically trained too?"
"Well, not to brag, but yes, I've studied pretty much everything there is to music that I can. Now anyway back on topic. Who's next?"
"Hi I'm Addison, and a zombie phrase I know is…" Right before she spoke she drew a blank on the dozens of zombie phrases she had heard her friends say, so blushing she slowly said,"Gar gar gaza."
"Awe, I wonder where you heard that before?" Mr. Z said with a smile on his face, "For the rest of you, that means I love you. I don't suppose Zed has serenaded you with his guitar skills?"
"Wait what guitar skills?"
"Oh, Zed is great at guitar, I taught him everything he knows obviously. But when he really gets into a song It's so beautiful, he could send shivers down my spine."
"I know," Addison said before she could stop herself, she tried to save face, "Thanks now I have something to ask him about."
"Anytime, now, since this is my first class like this ever, I'll admit I'm making it up a lot as I go but I promise you there will be a method to my madness. Someday we'll get there and it will all make sense. For now we'll start with some basic greetings. Hello, Nice to meet you, things like that."
Mr. Z began his lesson in earnest, writing things on the board for his students to practice speaking and copying down in their notes. Addison and Bree both enjoyed the class, excited to learn more about Zombie culture, and for learning new ways to communicate with their friends. Bree especially, she had been sitting with Bonzo at lunch the past few weeks and she was slowly learning to communicate with him, and the more she did, the more she started feeling like Addison described that first day in the cafeteria, but she wasn't ready to admit that to anyone yet.
The bell rang and everyone began packing up their stuff to head to their next class. "Have a good rest of your day, see you next time! Zareg Zaa!" Mr. Z called out.
At lunch everyone met at their normal table. As Bree sat next to Bonzo, instead of her normal shy hello, she said, "Grallo Bonzka"
Bonzo looked at her with a smile, "Grallo Breezka"
Bree let out another grin, "A zig zig quid quad ziggy got got, ziggety got go zag ziggy got zon."
Now Bonzo, and the rest of the table looked very flabbergasted that Bree had said she was hungry perfectly in Zombie.
"Breezka zow grabla Zombese?" Bonzo asked her.
"We had our first Zombie as a second language class today, and it was great." Bree told him.
"Yeah Mr. Z is so fun, he was just as fired up to be here as we were." Addison gushed.
"Wait Mr. Z is here, I love him, he was my favorite teacher in middle school." Zed said.
"Really?" Addison asked.
"Yeah music class was the best, how do you think every Zombie has such great dance moves?" Zed explained.
"He taught you all to dance too?"
"Mr. Z did literally everything at our old school, Band, Choir, Dance, Drama, He even taught me how to remix music." Eliza said.
"Yeah he taught me to play guitar, and Eliza is great at piano…"
"Zed shut up." Eliza demanded
"Come on Eliza you're great."
"Thanks, but you don't need to announce it to the whole school."
"What's wrong with the piano Eliza," Bree asked.
"Nothing, I was good I guess, but I much prefer making my own music using my computer now." Eliza said.
"Speaking of which Zed, why haven't you told me you play guitar?" Addison asked.
"It never came up I guess, whenever Zoey has her sleepover I'll play something for you." Zed promised.
"Speaking of sleepovers, how was your guys' weekend?" Eliza asked again.
"It was amazing, we laughed, we had fun, we were together, that's all you need to know." Addison tried to stop her probing.
"So you two really didn't…?" Eliza led off.
"No, we did not, I just had a sleepover at Addison's house not a big deal, I'm sure normal teens do that all the time." Zed defended them.
"Whatever you say." Eliza kept her smirk on.
"Any way…. "Zed said trying to change the subject, "Hey guys we should go check on Mr. Z, I don't think I've seen him since we started school this year."
"Gra." Bonzo said excitedly.
"Oh Zed, I thought of another thing I could start a campaign for."
"What is it Eliza?"
You remember how it's been Mr. Z's lifelong dream to have a zoo in his house? We should start working on changing the Zombies can't have pets law. Plus you wouldn't have to be Zoey's dog anymore."
"Oh yes I am all for it, but what is this about Mr. Z's zoo?" Addison asked.
"He loves animals, and he always told us that if he could he would fill his house with dogs, and birds, and lizards, and snakes, and fish and pretty much everything." Zed said.
"If we can make a big enough public awareness campaign, maybe this could be our first step of changing things outside the school."
"I think it sounds great let's do it." Zed said.
"So will I be seeing you after school today?" Addison whispered to Zed as everyone was finishing up their lunch.
"Actually, no, great news though, Coach wants me to come to Basketball Tryouts now that zombies are allowed again." Zed told her.
"Do you even play basketball?" Addison asked him.
"It isn't football but I can shoot straight." Zed said.
"I'm sure you'll do wonderful, and it will just give me more chances to watch you cheer you on. Plus with school back to normal we can see each other all day anyway."
"We can still have plenty of time together. I promise."
"Good, well good luck at tryouts then. Maybe you'll turn the whole basketball team around like you did football."
"Gee thanks for the pressure."
"I know you'll do great, you said yourself you're better than Troy Bolton."
"Oh yeah I did say that."
"Go get it Wildcat."
"What Team!?" Zed shouted out.
"Wildcats Get your head in the game." Addison said to him, just as they left the lunchroom to continue their day.