I can’t lie to you. The first time I saw Glenn, my heart stopped. When our eyes met, it clicked. It was like a light bulb igniting to the maximum. The bulb was brand new and I wanted it. No. I needed it. I needed it to heal the darkness in my heart that was caused by the deaths recently. Losing my brother? I couldn’t handle that. Not alone, at least. I needed to talk to someone who could understand. We have the same taste in music and we made a joke despite the horror. Reluctantly, I went to Beth. Ever since Patricia got married, she just isn’t the same. She’s so caught up in Jimmy that I can’t hold a conversation with her anymore.
“Hey Beth?”
She turned and greeted me with a smile. “Hey, Maggie, what’s up?”
“I need to talk to you.” She dropped her smile and her face flushed. “It’s not bad, I just need advice.”
“Oh, okay.” We sat in the living room and faced each other. “What’s going on?”
“So there’s this guy…”
“What? How?”
“He came with the new group…He’s really cute, but I’m afraid to talk to him.”
“Which one?”
“You know the Asian guy? Uh…Glenn?”
“Oh! Yeah, he’s sweet. Why are you afraid to talk to him?”
“I’m kinda notorious for never having a boyfriend for more than a week. I screw things up.”
“But that doesn’t matter anymore! It can be a new start for you! And God must’ve brought them here for some reason; why not for you to meet him?”
“He likes Oasis…and Coldplay.”
“Okay, so he’s perfect for you! Just try.”
“I have, and he zones out and ignores me.”
“You should still try at least.”
“I will. Maybe we could go riding horses or something.”
“Yes, in the romantic sunset with the zombies in the distance. Beautiful.”
“Or maybe we could go on a run…”
“That’s better.” She went back upstairs looking very pleased with herself. I took all her advice to consideration. I thought about it and went onto the porch, to find him gone. I cursed under my breath and sat on the rocker, watching the stars. I hummed along to the song of hope in my head, “A Message” by Coldplay. That song always gets stuck in my head whenever I’m stressed or thinking about things. I started to doze off to the rhythm of the rocking in the chair. I figured I should get some sleep, so I went to the couch, said a prayer, and fell asleep.
~
I woke up to Patricia shaking me. “Wake up, lazy. We have to clean the house.”
“Why?” I groaned.
“Because, if you haven’t noticed, we have visitors at our house.”
“Most of them are staying outside, anyway.”
“I don’t care. Dad’s making breakfast. Let’s go.”
