"Give me an F! Give me an I! Give me an R-S-T! It's the first day of first grade for me, me, me!" Zoey cheered to herself in front of her bedroom mirror in excitement. She waved her pom-poms in the air before turning around to see Puppy sitting on her bed and happily wagging his tail. "How was that Puppy?"
"Bark!"
"I know today is going to be awesome. I can't wait to make all new friends. Come on let's go get breakfast!" Zoey and Puppy ran down the staircase together and into the kitchen where Zevon was just finishing cooking breakfast.
"Good morning my little zombie angel. Are you ready to start school with humans today?" Zevon asked, pausing to give her a good morning hug.
"Definitely I am way fired up." Zoey said as she walked over to the cupboard to fill Puppy's bowl with his breakfast. She set the bowl down and looked at Puppy. "Wait. Sit."
Puppy sat down obediently.
"Who's a good boy?"
"Ruff!"
"Yes you are you can eat now." Only then did Puppy rush to his bowl and begin wolfing down his food, while Zoey went and sat at the table, pouring herself a glass of orange juice.
Zed finally came downstairs with a smile on his face. "Good morning Zoey did you sleep well?"
"No, I was too excited I could hardly sleep. I can't wait for today."
"I know it's gonna be great, I just know you'll love school at Seabrook."
"Breakfast is ready, to make sure you have a healthy start for your big day, I made your favorite, scrambled brains!"
"Thanks Daddy." Zoey started gobbling her serving up.
"Thanks Pops." Zed said cringing slightly but eating his without complaint.
"So do you know everything you're doing today?" Zevon asked.
"Yep, I get to ride the bus, and then I'll meet my teacher and make a bunch of new friends and play at recess, and then after school, I'll have my first cheer practice. I can finally be a real cheerleader!"
"And you know Addison and I will be there to walk you home after practice right?" Zed reminded her.
"Yes, I know."
"Are you almost ready? I think the bus will be here soon." Zevon said, checking the clock on the wall.
"Yep." Zoey jumped up from the table, grabbed her coat and backpack, and gave Puppy a hug goodbye. "Be a good boy today, and I'll tell you all about everything I did when I get home."
Zevon then knelt down to give her a hug goodbye as well. "Have fun today my little zombie angel. And if anything bad happens today like the kids are mean, make sure to tell a teacher. And don't leave with anyone except Zed and Addison after cheer practice. And listen to any adults. And eat all your lunch, you're a growing girl and-"
"Pops don't worry she'll be fine."
"Yeah Daddy my new school is going to be awesome, no more classes in a dingy basement."
"I know, but you're growing up on me. Gar Gar Gaza." Zevon said, placing a kiss on her forehead
"Gar Gar Gaza Daddy." Zoey returned.
"I'll make sure she's safe as much as I can Pops, you don't need to worry about a thing." Zed promised.
"Let's go Zed I don't want to miss the bus."
"Alright Zoey."
They walked outside and were soon joined by the crowd of kids walking to the bus stop. Seabrook Elementary was right next to the high school, but for the younger zombies a school bus would be picking them up every day. It soon pulled up right outside the barrier and the small army of kids started rushing onto the bus.
"Have fun today Zoey." Zed said, kneeling down to give her a hug.
"Bye Zed, I'll see you after practice."
Zoey hopped on the bus and was greeted by the bus driver.
"Hi I'm Ron what's your name?"
"I'm Zoey."
"Hi Zoey, and what grade are you in this year?"
"I'm in first grade."
"Ooh that's a really fun year, I hope you have fun today."
"Thank you Ron." Zoey walked down the rows of seats before she found her friend Kinzley and sat with her. "Hi Kinzley!"
"Hi Zoey. Aren't you excited for school today?"
"Yeah, and I'm even more excited for cheer practice."
"I know me too, and I got a new backpack for Christmas."
"Me too! I hope we're in the same class."
"Me too!"
The bus soon started moving, filled with excited kids talking about how much fun today was going to be and all the new things they would hopefully be doing. In addition to cheer practice, Kinzley also couldn't wait to see the playground at recess. The only playground in Zombietown was 50 years old and falling apart.
They arrived at the school a few minutes later and after thanking Ron, they entered the school and joined an even larger crowd of kids walking through the halls, the zombie students instinctively stuck together, feeling a little lost and overwhelmed, a few of the human kids shrunk away but the majority sent friendly smiles and waves their way that helped them relax.
Several teachers came up and started sorting them into groups asking everyone their name and grade. Zoey and Kinzley stuck together so far, but were jittering with excitement ready to take everything in. Their group, made up of about a dozen kindergarten through second graders was then led down one of the hallways lined with pink and green lockers. The teacher divided all the kindergarteners between two classes before moving on. They then stopped at the next door.
"Alright, let's see." The teacher said, scanning her clipboard. "Zoey Necrodopolis, this is your classroom."
"OK, wait is anyone else in my class?"
"No it doesn't look like it, but you can go in and meet your teacher."
"OK see you at recess Kinzley!"
"Bye Zoey!"
Zoey walked in and couldn't believe her eyes at all the colors that filled the room. There were bright posters and student artwork hanging everywhere. The desks were arranged in groups of four spread around the room, with green chairs sitting at each one. Students were walking around the room, putting stuff away in their cubbies, and opening their computers to prepare to begin their first activity for the day. She just stood in the doorway she didn't know where to begin.
She finally caught the eye of her teacher who walked over to her with a smile on her face. "Hello you must be Zoey. I'm Mrs. Church."
"Yep, that's me."
"Welcome to first grade. Do you want me to show you where everything is?"
"Yes please. I'm so excited to be here."
"I'm glad to have you here too."
"So here is your cubby, this is where we put all of your take-home papers and books and things like that. Do you have a take-home folder?"
Zoey looked at her cubby and could see a green owl with Zoey neatly printed on it. "Yes here it is she said, pulling a green folder out of her backpack."
"Great and over here is your desk, you can put the rest of your school supplies in it."
"Wow." Zoey pulled the rest of her stuff out of her backpack, and quickly, but neatly put everything inside. Mrs. Church then showed her some other places around the room, like the Helper Chart, bookshelf and her own book bin, her lunch ticket, and a few other things.
"Do you have any questions for right now?"
"No, I think I'm OK. When does school start?"
"In about five minutes when you hear the bell ring. You can go sit at your desk and get to know your tablemates. Just listen for the bell to ring."
"OK thank you Mrs. Church."
"You're welcome Zoey."
Zoey sat at her desk and introduced herself to the other kids sitting there. "Hi I'm Zoey."
"Hi I'm Gram." One boy said, setting down the book he was reading.
"I'm Hadley." Introduced the girl sitting next to her.
"I'm Amya. Your hair is really pretty."
"Thank you, your hair is pretty too."
"Is this your first day here?" Gram asked.
"Yep zombies get to start school today, and I'm so excited to join cheerleading after school."
"Really? I'm a cheerleader too. I'll show you to the gym after school." Hadley offered.
"Thank you."
Just then the bell rang and the speaker crackled, "Good Morning Students!" A happy male voice sounded over the speaker. "To all of our new students joining today, welcome to Seabrook Elementary! And to all our returning students, welcome back after Winter Break! We have no guest teachers and today is Jan Fifth. For lunch today we will be serving hot dogs or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mac and cheese, green beans, peaches, and milk. Now everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance."
All the kids stood up and put their hands over their hearts, and Zoey did too, she did this at her old school, but after they finished, the other kids kept going.
I am a smart, special, valuable person.
I respect myself and I respect others
I accept only the best in all I do
I am proud to be me.
"Good morning friends," Mrs. Church said, "come to the carpet for our morning meeting."
All the students jumped out of their seats and sat on dots spread around the front of the room before the whiteboard.
Zoey stood up but looked a little lost since she didn't know what to do.
Mrs. Church caught her eye and motioned for her to stand upfront. "Good morning everyone I hope you all had a wonderful winter break the last few weeks, and we will start our morning meeting but first we have a new friend. This is Zoey and she's joining our class."
"Hello!" Zoey said, a little shyly.
"Hi Zoey!" All the kids waved at her.
"Zoey can you introduce yourself?"
"I'm Zoey, I'm seven years old, I have an older brother named Zed, and a puppy named Puppy, and I really love cheerleading."
"I love cheerleading too! I have a dog too! I have a cat! Me too!" Everyone started talking at once.
"Friends, settle down. How about we go around the circle and everyone can say their names so Zoey can start to get to know you?"
"Alexa we'll start with you."
"I'm Alexa. Kason, Kellan, Melody, Gram, Annabella, Alric, Vera, Sam, Gage, Owen, Hadley, Lane, Johnny, Taryn, Amya, Mckenna, Maryssa, Adam, and Devin." All the kids took their turn to introduce themselves.
"Now let's start our day with a cheer!"
First Grade First Grade What Do We Say?
First Grade First Grade What Do We Say?
We're Gonna Have Some Fun Today
We're Gonna Have Some Fun Today
We're Gonna Learn To Read And Spell
We're Gonna Learn To Read And Spell
We Do These Things Very Well
We Do These Things Very Well
Sound Off
1, 2
Sound Off
3, 4
Clap A Friends Name Clap A Friends Name
After Me, After Me
Then everyone stopped and looked at Zoey.
"Sorry Zoey, can you count off the syllables in your first and last name?" Mrs. Church asked.
"Zo-ey Nec-ro-do-po-lis" Zoey sounded out and held up six fingers.
"Zo-ey Nec-ro-do-po-lis." everyone clapped along with Zoey, repeating her.
"Yeah!" Everyone shouted, giving each other one more hi-five.
"Now let's sit down again and we can start our day. Zoey, you can sit by between Kellan and Alexa."
Zoey sat down and they went through the class's morning routine and Mrs. Church laid out the schedule. Then they started doing their math lesson. Thankfully Zoey felt like she could follow along with it so far, but she couldn't believe all the stuff in the classroom. The projector was shining on the whiteboard and the math lesson consisted of videos of a puppet named Super Joey. There were games, and all the kids got to take turns writing answers on the whiteboard. Then they returned to their desks and started working in their math books. Zoey did ask for help on a few questions and thankfully her desk mates were happy to help, and she was even able to explain a question to Hadley once she got the hang of it.
They went outside for recess and after putting their coats and gloves on, Amya, Hadley, and Zoey walked to the playground together. When they got outside Zoey saw Kinzley walking with a few other kids and called out to her. "Kinzley! Over here!"
Both groups joined and everyone introduced each other before walking over to the jungle gym in one corner of the yard, it was all steel and looked like a giant spider web, in fact, that's what Amya called it as they got closer. She also pointed out the other equipment around the playground, swings, monkey bars, basketball court, merry-go-round, the slides, kickball diamond, four-square, there were a ton of things to do, Zombietown had its own version of a playground, but it was nothing like this.
"We like to climb all over this." Hadley was telling her new friends. "And we can play games on the inside."
They started climbing up the web, and kids were swarming all over it. When they got to the top, they dangled themselves down and dropped to the inside. Zoey and Kinzley both decided to show off a little and hung upside down from their legs smiling at the others.
"Wow, you guys are so cool." Amya gushed.
"How are you doing that? Devin asked.
"Practice." Kinzley said.
"We do this all the time, you should see our playground."
"That sounds fun, can we come to your house sometime?" asked Melody.
"I don't know I'll have to ask my dad, but Zed has Addison come over all the time so I think you should be able to."
"Wait do you know Cheer Captain Addison?" Hadley asked.
"Yeah, she's my brother's girlfriend, and the best cheerleader I know, plus Bree and Bonzo."
"I can't believe you know the high school cheer captains, when we come over do you think she'll be at your house?" Taryn asked.
"Probably she comes to my house a lot. Whenever I have you guys over I'll ask Addison to come too, she's an amazing teacher. She even taught me this.
Zoey then broke into the funky chicken mashed potato split to the acclaim of the quickly growing crowd of students that came to see what all the cheering is about.
"Zoey you're the best cheerleader I've ever seen." Taryn told her. "I can't wait to see what you do at practice today."
"Me neither." Zoey said. "Thank you."
The teacher then blew their whistle and all the kids lined up to go back inside. When they returned to the classroom it was time to work on reading so Mrs. Church read a story to them and then they answered questions about it. Then Mrs. Church went over their new spelling words. And Zoey was happy that she could still keep up with everything, but she did raise her hand whenever she had a question and Mrs. Church always answered with a smile on her face.
Soon it was time for lunch and the class walked to the cafeteria to eat. There was thankfully no separation between the zombies and humans, the only difference was that the humans got hot dogs and the zombies got PB+J sandwiches with their lunches. Zoey was happily surrounded by her new friends, Gram, Annabella, Sam, and Hadley. Since she was the new kid, most of the conversation was the other kids asking her questions and getting to know her, but she took it in stride. Everyone was laughing and telling jokes or sharing what they had gotten for Christmas or that they did over break. Annabella did try to trade her hot dog but Zoey respectfully declined.
They then went outside for recess again and this time Zoey and lots of her new friends talked with each other as they swung on the swings. Zoey was happy to answer more of their questions about life as a zombie and she was learning more and more about humans as well.
When they got back to class they started an arts and crafts activity, cutting out snowflakes after they watched a video about how snowflakes are made and how each one is unique.
"Tada!" Gram shouted, presenting his snowflake to his friends.
"That looks really good Gram, here's mine!" Zoey said now displaying her own.
Hadley and Amya showed theirs off as well and next everyone wrote their name on their snowflake so that Mrs. Church would be able to hang them up around the classroom to give it a more wintery vibe.
Now they were sitting on the carpet again watching one more video to finish their science lesson for the day when the door slowly opened up. Most of the other kids were too engrossed in the video but Zoey's sensitive ears made her turn around in curiosity that quickly turned into confusion. "Zed? What are you doing here?"
Now the rest of the kids turned their heads to look at the newcomer, faces also masks of confusion, but Mrs. Church revealed a bright smile. "Oh I almost forgot to tell you all, but we are going to have another new friend be joining our class today. This is Zed, he's going to be our high school helper this semester."
"And he's my brother!" Zoey crowed happily.
"Hi, I'm Zed. What're your guys' names?"
Everyone took turns saying them again but Zed still looked kind of overwhelmed.
"Zed can you tell us a little about yourself?"
"Sure, I'm the student body president, I'm on the football and basketball teams, and yeah, I'm a zombie and Zoey is my little sister."
"Thanks, now we still have lots of work to do today, so now friends, let's go back to our desks and take out the LA worksheet I handed out earlier today. Zed I'll show you what you can be doing."
While all the kids started working on the packet some more, Zed took some other papers and left the room with Kellan, and Mrs. Church called for their attention again.
"Everyone is going to take turns going out to the art room across the hall and Zed will do an activity with you, while we keep working on our packet, raise your hands if you have any questions."
Zoey worked diligently along with everyone else, and thankfully the packet wasn't too hard, Zoey loved reading books and so far this work wasn't too different. Her friends had told her that they went to the library once a week and Zoey couldn't wait to do that either, but her mind was also on Zed because she had quite a few questions to ask him. Mainly what he was doing here.
When he got back Gram tapped Zoey on the shoulder and told her it was her turn to go. So she stood up and happily skipped out the door, thankfully the art room was literally right across the hall and she found it easily.
Zed was sitting at a table and chair that was way too small for him, his bent knees were still above the table and he didn't look very comfortable but his happy smile grew even bigger when Zoey skipped in.
"Hi Zoey."
"Zed what are you doing here?"
"Like Mrs. Church said, I'm your class's high school helper. I'll be coming down for about an hour two or three days a week."
"Why?"
"So I can spend time with you, make sure your safe and hopefully keep bringing Zombie changes to Seabrook. Plus I'm sure I'll have plenty of fun."
"OK, my first day of school has been great so far I've made so many friends already. Especially Hadley, Amya, and Gram. They're my desk mates and everyone's been super nice to me."
"I'm glad, I've met most of the class already and they don't seem very scared of me or anything."
"That's because most of them know all about you and that you're my brother. Don't worry no one's judged me for being a zombie. I even impressed them with my awesome cheers."
"I'm glad you're having a better first day of school than I did. The only good thing that happened that day was Addison punching me in the face.
"How is that a good thing? And why did she punch you? Addison would never hurt you."
"It's how we met, we were both in the saferoom and couldn't really see each other so we started talking and I scared her when the lights turned on and she saw I was a zombie, but she immediately apologized. Now enough talk we have a job to do."
"What is it?"
"I'm supposed to give you a spelling test."
"OK, are you sure you know how to spell everything though?"
"Haha don't make me send you to the principal's office. I think you've been spending too much time with Eliza."
"So? You spend literally all your time with Addison."
"Touché let's just get started."
So they did and Zed was happy to tell her she passed with flying colors as he wrote down her score. Zoey was the last student to go since her name was newly added to the bottom of the list so they walked back to the classroom together. When they entered the room everyone was lining up by the door.
"Good you're back did you get everyone Zed?" Mrs. Church asked.
"Yep."
"Great Zoey we're going to PE so you can get in line. Remember everyone quiet in the halls." They walked down to the gym, mostly quiet with a few whispers and giggles. Mrs. Church leading the way and Zoey and Zed bringing up the rear. When they reached the door everyone, Zoey included, excitedly ran to the bleachers on the other side of the gym. Zed stayed outside the doors to talk with Mrs. Church some more.
"Good afternoon." a loud, deep voice boomed, Zoey, who was sitting beside Amya and Gage looked over to see their gym teacher, who was nearly as tall as Zed with a thick brown beard covering his face, but it couldn't hide his friendly smile.
"Good Afternoon!" the rest of the class shouted back.
Just then the doors opened and Zed walked in the gym. "Mind if I join in Mr. Kline?"
"Not at all football star." Mr. Kline said, he already knew Zed as an assistant coach on the football team. "And I see we have another new student. What's your name?" He asked Zoey, a bit quieter now.
"I'm Zoey, and Zed's my brother."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Zoey. Are you ready to have lots of fun today?"
"Yes please!"
"OK Zed, you can sit on the bleachers with everyone else while I explain today's game."
Immediately a chorus of "Sit by Me Zed! No Sit by Me!" Broke out. So Zed carefully chose a spot by Zoey, and that led to more kids swarming him until he ended up with Zoey, Gram, Hadley, and Melody sitting on his legs, and Amya and Kason pressing up against his sides. It seemed like both he and Zoey had won most of the class over already.
"Today we're playing dead ant tag, so when you get tagged you have to lay down on the ground with your hands and feet up in the air and you need to wait for four people to drag you back to the base to get back in. And taggers can't tag anyone taking people to base. Any questions?"
There weren't any so Mr. Kline told everyone to spread out, and gave Sam and Taryn jerseys so they could be the first taggers.
Cue the next twenty minutes of running around a gym full of laughing and screaming first graders. Zoey was having lots of fun, when she was tagged she quickly had both Zed and her new friends come to her rescue. Zed let himself be tagged a few times, but when he did it took practically half the class to drag him over to the base. Until finally it was Zed and Zoey's turn to be taggers and now all the kids were in trouble. Working together it took the two of them less than 5 minutes to tag everyone out, so the gym floor was covered in kids, holding their arms and legs straight up in the air.
Now for the last 10 minutes or so they got some free time to do whatever they wanted, lots of kids grabbed different balls out of the storage closet, and Zed would have been happy to toss a football or shoot some hoops, but Zoey and Amya dragged him over to the climbing wall so he could help them set the mats down which he did. The wall was only about ten feet high so still plenty high for the kids, but Zed could almost reach the top just stretching his arm above his head and jumping a little.
He watched the kids happily climbing up and across the wall, and after some prodding, he followed their pleas for him to take a turn. So he did, and they warned him that the mat below the wall was lava. He made it about halfway along the wall before he pretended to slip.
"Oh No! I'm falling into Lavaaa!" Zed gasped as he jumped down and rolled onto his back, flailing his arms and legs in the air to the laughter of the kids around him.
But then someone shouted, "GET ZED!" And within ten seconds half the class was swarming over him in a dogpile and tickling him everywhere.
Zed broke out in uncontrolled laughter and playfully tried to fight back against the onslaught but was unable to for the most part. All he could see were the heads of the kids surrounding him, and he definitely saw a pair of emerald green pigtails that was wrapped around his leg.
Finally, Mr. Kline's whistle gave him a respite as he announced it was time for them to pick up and line up at the door. But when he did get in line, more kids started hugging his legs and waist, begging him to stay longer.
"Sorry guys I have to go back to my other classes, but I'll see you on Wednesday."
Mrs. Church was there to lead them back to class and Zed walked away towards the office and eventually back to the high school. He turned back and waved goodbye and everyone waved back "BYE ZED!" They all called out.
The rest of the day passed by quickly for Zoey. She had snack time, recess, and free reading time before school ended for the day and she could finally go to cheer practice. She, along with most of the other kids gave Mrs. Church a hug goodbye before heading to the gym with Hadley and Amya and they quickly sat down by Kinzley and her new friends.
As practice began everyone had lots of fun, they didn't do anything too difficult since Coach Leah, who was leading the practice wanted to start things slow since it was just winter break and she now had about a dozen new students joining. But most of the zombies were having just as much fun as Zoey was and they were excited to be able to join cheerleading. Many of them were happy to show off their own original cheers and dance moves.
After the practice was over, Zed and Addison walked into the gym as everyone was putting their coats back on and waiting to be picked up. Addison was still wearing her uniform since she too had just finished practice, and pretty much everyone noticed so that before they could reach Zoey, Zed and Addison were quickly surrounded by a swarm of smiling Mini Shrimp asking her dozens of questions.
Zed laughingly tried to wade through the sea of excited cheerleaders, but when he looked down again, Amya, Hadley, Melody, and Annabella were all hanging off his legs excited to see him too.
Thankfully Coach Leah came to the rescue, blowing her whistle to get all the kids to calm down.
"OK everyone, let's give Addison some space OK. How are you today?"
"I'm fine, and I'm happy to see all of you are so excited about cheerleading. But I'm afraid I don't have much time for questions today, but I will come back with more Mighty Shrimp Cheerleaders someday. I promise." She finally caught Zoey's eye who had been standing outside the crowd the whole time. "Hi Zoey, are you ready to go?"
"Yep. Bye Kinzley!" She waved.
"Bye Zoey!"
Zed, Addison and Zoey made it safely out of the gym and began walking home towards Zombietown.
"How was your first day Zoey?" Addison asked.
"It was great, I already made so many friends and I really like my teacher, and the playground is great. And I got to choose books to read from the classroom library, but we also get to go to the school library tomorrow so I'm excited about that and cheer was so much fun. Coach Leah said I was really good, especially my high kicks and toe touches."
"I'm happy to hear you had a great day. I always loved Mini Shrimp Cheer too. So who are your new friends in your class?"
"Well, I'm the only zombie in my class, Kinzley, my best friend, is in the other first-grade class. But I made lots of friends, especially Hadley, Amya, and Gram. We all sit together at the same desks. But everyone was so nice to me. This was the best first day of school ever!"
"And did you like Zed's surprise?"
"Yeah, everyone loved him, but I almost thought something was wrong when he showed up out of nowhere. But everyone liked him just as much as they like me. In fact, they all tackled him at PE."
"Really Zed, the big strong football star was tackled by a bunch of first-graders? "
"First of all, they swarmed me and I was already on my back and caught off guard. Second I couldn't actually fight them off or anything. Third, other than you two, all of them are literally the cutest things I've ever seen. Also don't act like you weren't part of the frenzy I know you were dragging me down too Zoey."
"OK so what exactly happened?" Addison asked laughing.
"So they have that climbing wall in the gym you know, and so I took a turn on it and 'fell' into the lava so I was on my lying on my back, and before I knew it someone shouted "Get Zed!" and I had ten first graders crawling all over me. That was the most fun I've had this week. Well besides, you know." Zed said sending Addison a look that made her blush.
"And were you a part of this too Zoey? Addison quickly tried to change the subject.
"Yeah, how could I not join in?"
"At least your class definitely doesn't have any problems with Zombies."
"They all loved me, especially when I told them I knew you and how you taught me cheer moves. What did you mean when you said you'd bring more cheerleaders someday?"
"In a few weeks, the Mini Shrimp will be cheering with us at the last few basketball games and we'll come to practice with you guys."
"Really when you do can you be my partner?"
"I would love to Zoey. Oh looks like this is goodbye." Addison said as they approached the Zombietown barrier.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Zed asked.
"No I'll be fine I can get myself home. I'll text you when I get home safe." Addison promised.
"Bye Zoey." Addison told her, surrounding her in a hug before giving Zed a hug goodbye as well.
"Bye Addison." Both siblings returned and they walked to their door.
When they entered Zevon was putting the finishing touches on dinner. "Welcome back! How was school today?" He asked as he brought the last dish to the table. "Dinner's ready."
"Amazing, my teacher is awesome, and so are all my new friends, and cheer practice was the best." Zoey filled them in absolutely everything she did that day. Zed also shared his first-grade experience and Zevon was beyond happy that they both had good days.
After they finished eating Zoey announced she was going to go play school upstairs with Puppy and Zander.
Zevon let out a sigh of relief.
"You OK Pops?" Zed asked as he helped clear the table.
"I'm fine, I'm just so relieved that Zoey had a much better first day of school than you guys did in August. I could only assume the worst was going to happen. The kids and teachers would hate her or if she had to defend herself from any bullies then she would be dragged off to containment or anything."
"Don't worry Pops, her teacher, and her entire class already like both of us. In fact, I probably got the most hugs in my life today not counting hugs from Addison."
"So with everything else did you have a good first day back?"
"Oh yeah, it was awesome, and thankfully no homework tonight since we just got back. Which is good because I don't know what it is but between you and me, PE with twenty first-graders chasing you is just as exhausting as an entire football practice."
"I'm not surprised Zed, you've always been great with Zoey. To me, it's no wonder those kids are already giving you hugs. I don't suppose Addison's jealous?" He asked with a sly smile.
"I don't think I told her about that part yet, but not only are they all just as cute as Zoey, but they are also slightly terrifying when they surround you. But I'm really going to enjoy doing this this year. Besides Addison was the one who originally gave me the idea, and thankfully Mrs. Church and Principal Lee were happy to let me join the class."
As Zed walked upstairs Zevon kept his smile on his face. "They're growing up so fast, but they'll be alright." He whispered to himself.
AN: Happy New Year! When I started this story this summer, I never imagined I'd still be going with this and with no plans to finish anytime soon. Thank you to everyone who's followed, favorited, or left reviews on this story. Especially Loveshipper and SWChica2005. I've been enjoying winter break the last few weeks and have had plenty of time to work on this story. I even started writing the first Zombies 2 chapter this week, so that will be coming out soon. Thank you all again and Happy New Year!