the zombie next door

Touch

i had been home for 3 hours prepping for our project. my room was spotless and there wasn't a spec of dirt in the house. i had all of our ingredients on the counter and the oven preheating.

in my hopelessly romantic mind i had also showered and prepped myself in case of absolutely anything. plucking, waxed, shaved, hair brushed, and matching pajamas and along with other things. my mom was still out so technically anything could happen. not that my mom would care she loves Zed and his dad. i feel like she'd cheer me on rather than scold me for having a boy over without her knowing.

i heard i light knock at my front door. my heart started racing and i jumped out of shock even though i knew he was supposed to be over around 6. i sauntered over to the door trying to contain my excitement. i unlock the door and crack it open. i try not to let my mouth fly open as i stare at the most handsome zombie i had ever seen. i looked up making direct eye contact with him. his jaw bone was sharp enough to cut through steel and his hair was vividly green in the setting sun. after i got over my ogling i motioned him inside. i could feel his smile even though i wasn't looking directly at him.

"long time no see" i said. he rolled his eyes in a playful way and said "i know it's been forever, how have you been." i tried not to smile too intensely. "i have everything ready for us partner, did you bring your notes?" i asked. "yup, i'm ready to get this over with". my heart sank a little. he seemed fine when he walked in. i started questioning myself. maybe i was in over my head with this one. or maybe he just really doesn't like math. all i knew was that i had to lay on the charm or i'd be a drowned fish.

i walked over to the kitchen and took on the task of starting the mix for the pie crust. "hey can you open that can of cherries for me?" i asked politely. "anything for you boss." Zed said with a slight chuckle. silence continued while we worked on our independent task. i was starting to grow anxious. that's when the words came out like vomit "so what happened with you and Addison?" i couldn't believe i just said that. i already knew what happened so why did my dumbass think now was the best time to play stupid. "well, things were going good until i found out she was fucking a new guy on the cheer team" he sighed. i was too stunned to say anything. the only words i could manage were "oh, i'm so sorry". like my empathy could help in any way. "it's ok, pretty much everyone knows about it now. i honestly didn't care for her that much after she made the cheer team. she was so full of herself." Zed said. all i was hearing was he was over her. "at least you're over her. i'm sure you have girls lined up to date the football star." i said with a chuckle. "actually i don't, not many human girls want to get with a zombie and i don't see anyone here fighting for me either." he said.

i returned to my mixing leaving it at that and so did he. i started to reach for the pan when i felt a cold hand on mine. he chuckled and so did i. "sorry i didn't mea-" i cut him off "omg i didn't mean to touch your hand" i stated. he laughed again "it's ok Zeo no harm no foul, am i right." i snorted and said "of course you'd make football reference". Zed looked puzzled and said "it's just a figure of speech not necessarily a sports reference." we smiled at each other.

i started laying down the crust and he filled in the cherries. we took turns overlapping strips of crust to make a checkerboard on top of the pie. i threw it in the oven. i asked him if he wanted something to drink while we waited but he politely declined. "you wanna just sit and talk then" i asked. "sure" he spoke with a smile.