The morning continued, Addison went outside with Zoey to take Puppy for a walk, meanwhile, Zoey was regaling Addison with tales of her terrifying her friends and neighbors from last night. As they got back to Zoey's house, she was explaining how she snuck up on their group last night.
"I saw all you just sitting around talking on the porch," Zoey was saying, "so I told Puppy to wait here by the gate, and then I ducked behind the fence and then hopped over behind all of you. And I was super sneaky, and then I slowly crept up behind Bree and Bonzo since his shadow would hide me the best, and then when I was just a foot away, I jumped out and gave the loudest ROAR I could. Wasn't I scary last night?"
"Oh yeah, if I didn't know it was you, you would have given me nightmares." Addison told her.
"Great." Zoey said cheerfully, pulling open the door and letting Addison and Puppy in first.
"Zed! We're home!" Zoey called out.
"Great to see you two." Zed said, sitting at the table, "Breakfast is almost ready."
Addison and Zoey sat down at the table, and Zed asked, "Good morning beautiful, did you two sleep well?"
"Yeah I had so much fun last night but I was so tired." Zoey said.
"I slept like a baby." Addison said, trying to act nonchalant, not looking Zed in the eye or she knew she would break.
"That's good to hear you two, and Addison, I hope Zoey didn't wake you up too early." Zevon said, bringing the last of the food.
"No it was no problem, I'm used to early mornings." Addison replied. "What's for breakfast?"
"Scrambled brains." Zevon said proudly.
"Just to warn you, it tastes like sweaty gym sneakers, its OK if you don't want to eat it." Zed whispered to her.
"It's fine, I'm not afraid to try new things Zed." Addison said, taking a bite of brains on her plate. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, "It's good." she said.
"I'm glad you like it Addison," Zevon said, "unlike some people."
"Dad I don't know what it is, but you seriously subtract all the flavor when you make it." Zed told him.
"Zed stop being picky." Zoey said teasingly.
"Yeah be a good boy." Addison joined in.
Pretty soon they finished eating and it was time for Addison to go home.
"Do you have to leave already?" Zoey asked, throwing herself around Addison's waist at the doorway.
"I'm sorry Zoey, but I still have a lot of homework to do this weekend."
"OK, bye Addison, say bye Puppy."
"Bark!"
"I'll see both of you soon, at the very least I'll see you at the first basketball game this week Zoey."
"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see you cheering again."
"Me neither." Zed said, taking hold of Addison's hand.
"Goodbye!" Addison called one more time as they left the house and started walking towards Seabrook.
"Do you have everything?"
"Yep, I have all my clothes, and Bonzo's painting, some candy from Zoey, my phone. I didn't forget anything."
"Alright, by the way, my dad was none the wiser, he saw you with Zoey this morning, and saw me leaving my room, he acted shocked that he didn't find us sleeping on the couch or something. It's like he doesn't trust us."
"Yeah, why would he think that?" Addison said elbowing him, "Zoey woke up like 10 minutes after I came back down, but she thinks I was down there all night too."
"That's what happens when you've got two masters of stealth working together. No one's catching us unless we wanna be caught."
"Except my parents."
"Well that doesn't matter, do you think they would let me sleepover at your house anytime soon? And even if they did, your dad would probably stand guard in front of your door or something."
"Well speaking of, you almost gave it away, you're lucky your dad didn't hear you moaning for me to stay with you just five more minutes. She teased him."
"I will never voluntarily give you up especially when you're under the covers keeping me warm. And who's the one who came to me last night because she couldn't sleep?"
"Admit it, you couldn't sleep without me either."
"Fine, knowing you were downstairs and not in my arms was torture, I would have been awake all night if you hadn't come up, or I would have gone downstairs and snuggled with you on the floor, no matter what Pops or Zoey would say."
"How about we just agree that we're both irresistible to each other."
"I couldn't agree more." Zed said, nuzzling her neck.
"Zed stop," Addison laughed, "that tickles."
"How can I, you said it yourself, you're irresistible. And besides, you said I'd be rewarded if I was a good boy last night."
"But you weren't."
"Again, who came to my bedroom?"
"Shut up, it was only a matter of time before you would have broken too."
"But you did it first, I was such a good boy, I was so kindhearted, I couldn't turn you away from a warm place to sleep."
"Fine, when we get to my house you can help me with my Zombie-tongue homework."
"Any excuse to spend more time with you."
"And if you can teach me to understand zombie verb conjugation, you'll be handsomely rewarded, well more handsomely than you already are."
"Oh, sure piece of cake."
Soon they neared Addison's house and Addison gave him one more quick peck on the cheek, "Before my parents see." She whispered.
They walked up to the porch and opened the door. "We're back!" Addison called out.
"How was your sleepover?" Missy asked.
"It was so much fun, Zoey and I had a blast all night. Until we got all tired out anyway. Just you guys wait, someday Zoey's going to be captain of the Mighty Shrimp."
"That's nice, and how was your night Zed?" Dale asked.
"It was fun, Bonzo, Eliza, and I hung out since Zoey all but kicked me out since she didn't want her brother interrupting girl time. But I was able to sneak back in to go to bed eventually."
"He's joking, we all hung out with Bonzo, Bree, and Eliza, and then later we both hung out with Zoey."
"Alright, well see you later Zed, I'm sure you've got better things to do than fill us in on everything." Missy told him.
"Oh don't worry, he's here to help me with my Zombie-tongue homework."
"Oh well I know I can't help with that." Dale laughed.
"Exactly why I brought him home, we'll probably be done by lunch. See you!" Addison said, pulling Zed towards the stairs behind her.
"See you, Mr. Wells, Mrs. Wells."
"Remember open door." Dale called
"Yes Dad." Addison called back.
Zed sat down on Addison's bed as she started to dig through her backpack for her school supplies. "It's like no one trusts us." She whispered to Zed.
"I have no idea why, I think we're both very trustworthy."
"I know, there's no one I trust more than you."
"Ditto, besides we're just studying, I doubt we'll have time for anything else."
"That's why you're here to help me since you're obviously an expert in Zombie-tongue, and to give me motivation to finish."
"Garutiful rets gret zartarg." Zed said with a grin.
"Garazeb gron." Addison answered.
About an hour later Addison had one more question left to answer.
"Does this sound right Zed? I Gren zia rock futbolgr."
"Yes, I am good at playing football." Zed said smiling.
"Well, we're finally done." Addison said, closing her book from her desk and turning to Zed who was sitting on her bed.
"Good, you know your dad just made his check on us."
"Yeah, and?"
"We should have about 15 minutes before he comes back up again, he's been pretty consistent in his patrols."
"Again, it's like he doesn't trust us." Addison giggled.
"I think you should practice your speaking skills so how about we try only speaking in Zombie. First one to break loses."
"OK but I know I'm gonna lose or only understand like every other word you say."
"Ru arh grutiful Addiska, gar gar gaza."
"Gru handgrome Zedski, gar gar gaza."
"Gru bez greerleadar in Seabrook."
"Gru bez futbolgr in Seabrook."
"Gru arh zo crute. Carn ah bezo."
"Gra."
Zed walked forward and placed a gentle kiss on Addison's lips.
"Grazias."
"Ra grada"
"Zi grought zat grld brakz gru."
"Grat?"
"I thought that would break you for sure." Zed said.
"Haha, I win, despite you trying to cheat, but I don't think I can use most of that conversation in class."
"Well played, so are you going to claim your prize?"
"Yep," Addison leaned in for a kiss of her own.
"Congratulations," Zed said before his eyes snuck over to the clock. He whispered, "Go back to your desk and act like you're still studying."
"Why?" Addison whispered as sat back down.
"Trust me."
Not 30 seconds later, they heard Dale walk past, and Zed even waved to him. He waved back and continued walking.
"I told you he's been very diligent in his patrols. Every fifteen minutes, on the dot." Zed said.
"Don't worry baby steps are still progress. And really we aren't doing anything bad."
"Well if you're all done, I guess it's time for me go."
"Yeah, see you later, text me when you get home."
"Of course I will," Zed said wrapping her up in one last hug before heading downstairs and saying goodbye to Addison's parents.
Later that night, when Zed laid himself down for bed, he dialed his new phone for the first time.
"Hello?" Addison answered, picking up before the 2nd ring.
"Why Hello, how was the rest of your day?"
"Pretty standard, just worked on a bit more homework after you left. How was your day?"
"Fun, Pops and I took Zoey to go buy everything we need for Puppy, I'm pretty sure Puppy now has more toys than I've had in my life entire life."
"But you had fun though?"
"Yeah, except Pops decided it would be best to buy the dog food in bulk, so we have a 50-pound bag of dog food for a 10-pound dog. So I got a good workout on the way home, plus everything else that I was carrying."
"And is Puppy still behaving?"
"Yep, he follows Zoey around like he's been here for years, and listens to her every order. Oh, and while we were at the pet store, we ran into Mr. Z his cart was fuller than ours, I don't even know how much he was getting, or for what pets."
"That sounds just like him."
"So that was our adventure for today. Anything else going on tomorrow?"
"No, I'll probably just be relaxing at home."
"Same. Talk to you tomorrow, I love you."
"I love you too. Goodnight Zed."
Zed hung up and just sat his phone down beside him, and he knew he couldn't wipe the grin off his face just thinking about Addison, as he turned over to go to sleep.
After school on Monday, it was time for Bucky and the Aceys to prove themselves.
"All right everyone." Addison blew her whistle to get the squad's attention. "We have some shrimp that are ready to return to the team. They are going to get the chance to show their stuff, and then we will decide as a team if they are ready to rejoin us."
"So Bucky, Stacey, Tracey, Lacey," Bree started, "I'm sure today's tryouts will be easy for you, the hardest thing you'll have to do is a back handspring, funky chicken round-off mashed potato split with a robot down powering finish."
"Would you like that funky chicken Cajun, or shake and bake?"
"Well, we've all seen Cajun before, so shake it up." Addison said, she blew her whistle again and started the music.
Bucky and the Aceys went their hardest from the get-go. They performed the routine perfectly and then started into their own moves, that of course Bucky made sure he was the center of the attention, but Addison did have to admit to herself all their skills were practically flawless. She knew they needed all four of them on the team if they wanted to take back Seabrook's winning streak.
Eventually, the music ended and Bucky gave one last backflip and ended with his dazzling smile and fired up jazz hands. Several of the cheerleaders clapped politely.
"Alright team, huddle up!" Bree called out.
"I mean it when it is up to all of you if we let them rejoin our team." Addison whispered in the huddle. "We all know what Bucky can be like, and Bree and I already told him what we expect from him and he starts causing problems for our team he will be removed again."
Bree continued, "Also as of right now, Bucky and the Aceys aren't going to have any more power than the rest of you. Addison and I haven't made any decisions regarding assistant captains or anything like that, if they prove themselves, they could be assistant captains again, but for now, they are on a tight leash."
"And I promise we are not going back to being the Bucky Cheer Squad, we are the Mighty Shrimp Cheer Squad. So does anyone else have any concerns?" Addison asked.
No raised any more objections so Addison asked them all to raise their hands if they were in favor of letting Bucky and the Aceys back. The vote wasn't unanimous but the majority did want them on the team.
Addison and Bree walked back over to the recruits who were smiling in slightly nervous anticipation.
"Bucky, Stacey, Lacey, and Tracey…Welcome back to the Mighty Shrimp, wear our colors with pride." Bree told them.
"Thank you Cuz." Bucky said to Addison.
"Don't just thank me, the rest of your teammates thought you deserved a second chance too. Now let's get started, the first basketball game is Friday, and it's our job to get the crowd fired up. Let's go." Addison blew her whistle as practice officially began.
Friday at the game, things were going pretty good for everyone, Zed started and played for most of the game. When he was playing he was so hyper-focused, he barely even heard the crowd. And like always the Eels were proving a tough team to beat both sides nearly matching each other shot for shot. Whenever he had a break on the bench he couldn't help but sneak glances at Addison. And thankfully the basketball team was strong even without Zed's zom-boost but the game was still tough, Coach tried to give breathers, but most of the starters were almost constantly in and out.
Addison had swelled with pride when Zed was announced as number 0 at the beginning of the game, and revealed his new pink and green uniform, which completely exposed his well-muscled arms. Watching Zed pound up and down the court, Addison would have been lying if she said Bree didn't have to snap her out of a trance every now and again.
Addison and Bree had both been a little nervous as this was the first public performance of the Mighty Shrimp under their leadership, but everything was going great for them, the team was totally in sync performing every cheer to perfection, with much adoration from the Seabrook crowd. Bucky and the Aceys were giving it their all the entire time. Although Bree did have to remind Bucky to tone his performance down a little bit, they didn't experience any major problems.
The clock was running down to the final seconds, the score 68-70 Seabrook down by 2 points, Ryan had the ball, he was looking for an opening, but after putting away shot after shot most of the game, the Eels were finally figuring him out. He thought he finally found an opening and tried to shoot a 3-pointer to win the game, but his defender was ready and was able to block the shot and knock it out of bounds.
The ref blew his whistle, and the clock stopped at 30 seconds left. Coach quickly called a timeout, "Come on guys, we can do this, we've come so close, I just need you to give me a little bit more and we win. Ryan, you've scared them so bad I don't think you'll be able to get a 3 off, so here's what I want you all to do. Coach started drawing out the plan on his clipboard. Erik will pass the ball in to Ryan, then Jack gets out of the lane to the outside, Cade also stays on the outside, make a few V-cuts to try to get open, and confuse the defense. Ryan, I want you to fake another 3 but pass to Zed who will be ready to drive for the hoop. I think it's our best shot to tie and beat them in OT. Got it?"
"Got it, Coach," Zed said. "Let's go Mighty Shrimp Break, on five, huh!" Zed and the rest of the team called out.
While the teams were in their huddles, the cheerleaders spread out in front of the crowd and started a brand-new cheer.
I say number you say one, Number!
One!
Number!
One!
I say beat'em you say bad! Beat'em
Bad
Beat'em
Bad
I say spirit you say got it, Spirit!
Got it!
Spirit!
Got it!
I say pink you say green, Pink
Green
Pink
Green
Addison's eyes scanned through the crowd until she found Zoey, she had been waving her pom-poms but froze with the biggest grin since she first saw Puppy, before she joined in, shaking her pom-poms, and shouting as loud as possible. Seeing that look on Zoey's face warmed her heart.
Back on the court, Erik passed the ball into Ryan, who followed Coach's plan, he dribbled around trying to get open and raised his arms ready to shoot. He let the ball loose, and his defender jumped up to block it, and that was his downfall because instead of the basket, he was aiming straight and true for Zed's outstretched hands. Zed got the ball, pivoted, locked on his target, and shot the ball. He wasn't quite fast enough though and his defender managed to slap his hand, Zed saw the ball bounce from the rim, against the glass, against the rim one more time, and almost falling out but just managing to slide through the net right as the buzzer sounded, that was quickly drowned out by the cheering Seabrook crowd. But the ref's whistle cut through the cacophony, making everyone pause with bated breath.
"Foul on number 15, yellow. The basket's good, one shot." The ref announced. Again the cheer resumed before once again quieting as Zed stepped up to the line, the rest of the players lining up along the lane.
Zed took the ball from the ref and took a few dribbles before lining up his shot. Out of the corner of his eye, like all the other free throws he had shot tonight he looked over to the cheerleaders, there was a tradition where if a player shooting free throws had a girlfriend, then all the other students would sit down, and leave the girl standing in plain view to see. So all the other cheerleaders were ducked down, silently watching in anticipation, while Addison was still standing, holding her pom-poms at her sides with a small smile on her face. She gave a small, barely perceptible nod to him as he looked over.
Zed gave her a wink out the corner of his eye and then focused on the hoop, letting his shot fly, straight and true smoothly through the air and through the net with a swish. The crowd exploded with cheers and the rest of his team surrounded him with excitement.
"Great job guys." Coach said to them, "We definitely earned our slacks tonight."
The team went through the usual good game handshakes before they all ran back to the locker room in excitement as the band played their fight song one more time in victory.
When Zed was all showered up and ready to go after the game debrief, he exited the locker room with his duffel bag over his shoulder and was surprised to find Addison waiting outside.
"Good job Zed, you had a great first game."
"Thanks and you did great yourself, I bet we only won because we had our amazing cheer squad to pump us up. Especially Bucky I don't think I would have made that last shot without his jazz hands giving me the strength to keep going."
"So it wasn't me standing proud for all your free throws?"
"Of course that helped too, at least a little bit."
"Well, I hope it did, as much as I love being your personal cheerleader, I think that tradition is a little weird."
"Well I love it, it gives me a chance to focus on you, and it announces to everyone else that you're all mine." Zed said leaning in for a kiss.
"And it tells everyone you belong to me too. So I guess it's OK."
"So do I get to walk you home?"
"No my parents insisted on waiting for me to wait for you so they could give their congrats themselves. I think they're waiting outside the gym with your dad and Zoey."
"Hmm, do you see any saferooms nearby?"
"No Zed come on, they're literally right around the corner." And unfortunately for them, Addison was right as they turned the next corner Zoey ran up to them, hugging Addison first, and then Zed. Congratulating both.
"Good job Zed, that last shot was great at the end." Dale said.
"Thanks, Mr. Wells."
"And Addison I can tell already, you and Bree are great captains, I can't wait to see you compete again next year, but don't you think Bucky should be captain too?"
"We just brought him back this week Mom, and if he deserves a leadership role again, Bree and I will give it to him."
"Well, I think you both did good tonight. I can't wait for the rest of the season." Zevon said.
"And Addison, I can't believe you used my cheer at a real game."
"Of course I did, your cheer was great, and I bet it's what made Zed win the game."
"I couldn't have done it without you Zoey."
"You're welcome, big bro."
"Well, we better get going, it's getting pretty late." Dale butted in.
"See you tomorrow Addison."
"Bye Zoey, Bye Zevon, Bye Zed." Addison said, with one more hug to each of them before they started walking towards Zombietown and she followed her parents to their car.
When she got in bed that night she called Zed one more time. They had already made a habit of calling each other to say goodnight every night and texting each other good morning when they woke up before meeting to walk to school.
"There's my favorite cheerleader." Zed's voice answered the phone.
"Are you tired basketball star?"
"Oh yeah, if I'm not careful I'll fall asleep while I'm talking to you." Zed yawned.
"So did you get home fine?"
"Yeah no problems, when we got home, Zoey started trying to write down more cheers for you to use, with Puppy's help of course."
"Tell her I can't wait to hear them."
"I'm serious I feel like I'm gonna pass out any minute. That was a long game."
"Goodnight Zed, I'll call you tomorrow then."
"Goodnight. Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza."