It's Complicated: A Zombie Romance Novel

Graduation Canceled?

Another night at Lee Ann's and I really was going to be dead. It wasn't that sleeping on her floor was that uncomfortable. Her mom had instructed their maid to set up an air mattress in Lee Ann's room for me to sleep on. Those things were surprisingly comfy. Lee Ann's parents weren't all that bad, either. No, it was the TV in Lee Ann's room that was going to be the death of me.

I never knew how addictive TV could be. Seriously. This wasn't the first time Lee Ann had let we watch it when I was over. They had one of those smart TV's with all the packages, Amazon Prime, the works. So we could watch an entire season in one sitting.

Last night was more like a New Face marathon. Six seasons back to back to back. I think I got maybe two hours of sleep before Lee Ann's alarm went off this morning.

"It'll be totally fine," Lee Ann kept telling me. "Today will be a total breeze. We can probably sleep right through the classes." I really hoped she was right.

I gave myself a good look over in the mirror before leaving for school. Lee Ann's house was close enough to walk, which was probably why her parents hadn't sprung for a car for her yet. They could totally afford one. Ever since her sixteenth birthday passed with no car she gets this sinful look on her face whenever we talk about them. Cars, that is; not her parents. Though, if the wishful look was about her parents, I could totally understand that. I'd had this idea about her home life before, but it wasn't until I'd spent these few nights at her house that I was really starting to get the picture.

It was not like they didn't care, really. They were simply never around. Lee Ann could be dead and rotting in the house for a week before they'd notice the smell. I'm not saying this to be mean. They were good parents when they were there. Both of them had high powered lawyer jobs for competing Fortune 500 companies. It took them all over the world.

"Your parents still going on vacation?" I asked.

"Yeah, they want to rekindle the flame," she said right before sticking another handful of popcorn into her mouth. We were on episode seven of season three. The prompt was to make living candy creatures. Lee Ann had insisted that I make her popcorn even after the gluttony baby episode.

"Hey Mae, if you are still worried about the whole getting kicked out Friday, don't." She turned to me and said this all doe eyed. How could she turn it on and off like that anyway? "I ran the whole thing by Mom and she was like, 'Honey, how can we toss a poor homeless orphan onto the streets? Did not God tell us to take care of the orphans?' Not that they would notice," she added under her breath.

"I'm not an orphan yet, just homeless," I laughed.

"You're a half orphan," she said defending her mother's deranged argument, "and your mom left you in the cold, literally, so you might as well be an orphan."

She was right. I couldn't really argue with her. The words still stung though. It wasn't like any of it was her fault. She hadn't prodded my brother into hosting that stupid party, or my uncle into suing us for the house, or my mother leaving me there to go and live with a boyfriend I'd never met. She'd just been my best friend. The one person in the midst of all of this I could really count on.

"Ooh, ooh, they're about to do the big reveal," she said, punching me in the arm until I went silent. Popcorn poked threw her hand leaving small puncture marks. And that was that. We didn't talk about either of our messed up home lives again all night.

"You look good," Lee Ann said as she finished straightening her hair. Her bathroom was a Jack and Jill setup between her room and the study. It even came with a double sink so the two of us could get ready at the same time. This had really come in handy this morning since we'd both chosen to hit the snooze several times.

Even with the time we saved sharing the bathroom, it looked like we were going to be late. Which we were. The bell was ringing as I was still getting my morning books from my locker. At least Lee Ann wasn't hurrying me to get us to class on time. She was acting as tired as me, but thanks to her makeup magic neither of us looked it.

Ms. Grundall stopped the whole class when we entered. 'Here it comes,' I thought. 'She's going to give us detention the last week of our senior year. Why had I ever listened to Lee Ann and watched those last fifteen episodes? Why?' Only she wasn't interested in Lee Ann at all, only me.

"The office called earlier this morning," Ms. Grundall explained, "they want you to come down, now." She handed me her hall pass which she'd attached to a large carnival-style stuffed animal. Her reasoning? Students tended not to loose large stuffed animals, unlike hall passes which were notorious for disappearing shortly after the year starts. I took the pass and headed for the door just as Ms. Grundall was telling the rest of the students, "No assignment today, do whatever you like." Great, I could be getting some sleep. Instead I had to walk all the way to the office.

The secretary wasn't in, so I left my name on the list and waited. I nearly fell asleep waiting.

"Ms. McMilland?" said a soft but stern voice. "Your counselor will see you now." I nodded and walked through the double doors into the office area. The second door had a sign that read K-P on it. Guess that was me.

I'd only been in this area three times before. Each time was at the start of the year to get my schedule, so it wasn't like I had it memorized or anything.

"Hello Ms. McMilland. Please take a seat," said my counselor. I took a seat.

He adjusted his thick, large rimmed glasses before addressing me. "The reason I called you in today is simple Ms. McMilland, you will not be graduating this Saturday."