It's Complicated: A Zombie Romance Novel

What Price?

"Girl, if that ain't your mom I'm going to kill you," Lee Ann said, handing me her phone. I wasn't awake enough to recognize the caller ID. Not that I knew the number of the place Mom was living at, anyway.

I looked at the time on the phone. It was two freakin' o'clock in the morning. Who calls people at such an un-Godly hour?

"Hello?" I said.

"I got something for you," said a male voice. Ok, not Mom. The voice didn't pause to give me time to recognize it. He just kept talking. "But it's going to cost you." Click. I looked back at the phone. He'd hung up. I'd been woken from a dead sleep for this?

I looked down at the caller ID. It was a 206 number, but I didn't recognize it. Lee Ann must have not recognized it either, or she wouldn't have handed me the phone. What guy would be calling me on Lee Ann's phone? My tired brain started thinking. Brian might, but that hadn't been Brian's voice. That left Michael. He was the only other guy that had Lee Ann's number as my own. I took a deep breath, waiting for the scream to pass. It wouldn't be helpful in this situation anyway.

So Michael had found something and it was going to cost me. Cost me what? Money? Well I didn't have any of that. You can't squeeze water from a stone. My virginity? Yeah, if I wouldn't give it up to a hot guy like Gideon, there was no information on this earth that would make me give it up to a slob like Michael. I mean, the guy didn't regularly bathe, for crying out loud. What could he have possibly meant? The comment was just too vague and I was just too tired.

I was halfway back to sleep, lost in the possibilities of what he could have meant, when the phone started ringing again. Lee Ann audibly groaned as she rolled over away from the noise. I answered it quickly.

"What do you want, Michael?" I asked, a yawn escaping my lips.

"I forgot to ask: are you coming to the dorms, or should I meet you at the field?"

"What field?" I was too tired to be playing these kinds of games. "Michael, I thought you were going to call when Brian came back. Is my brother there, because if he is I want to talk to him."

"The cheerleading field. For the tryouts," he said, ignoring my question altogether.

"I want to talk with Brian." There was a pause on the other end. There was no way I was trying out for cheerleading at the college level. So what was he really getting at? Was this all a game Brian was playing with me?

"Brian isn't here. Are you stoned or something? Because even though it's legal in this state I think seventeen in still underage; oh, and Brian would want me to tell you that even starter drugs stunt your growth, or something like that."

"No, Michael. I'm not stoned. I was sleeping. I want to get back to sleeping." What was this guy's problem, anyway? There was a pause on the end of the other line.

"So ,like, birthday-suit sleeping?"

"Birthday what?!" Was he really asking me if I slept nude? I so did not need this conversation. Today was the last day of my High School career, tomorrow I graduated, and apparently Brian's roommate was a nut job that woke innocent girls up at weird hours of the morning to talk about nudity and drugs. What had I gotten myself into?

"Look, I'm not judging or anything. I've tried it once or twice myself." Ok, was he talking about sleeping nude or the drugs? It was hard to comprehend this conversation. But really, at this point, I didn't care. I wasn't about to ask him which one he meant.

"If this is all you're calling about, good night, Michael." I went to hang up.

"Wait, I needed to warn you," I heard him say. I put the phone back to my ear.

"Is this about the payment you were talking about earlier?" I asked. There was another long pause.

"Something like that," Michael chuckled. It was a bit creepy. But everything about this guy creeped me out.

"He's listening so I can't say too much on the phone," he continued. Ok, now the comment about weed fit better. That would also explain the no sense of time.

I did not want to be around Brian's roommate this late, especially if he was high, so I asked, "Can't this wait until morning?"

"You aren't on your way now?"

"No," I confirmed. "Buses don't run at this hour and tomorrow is my last day of school. I can't miss it or they might not let me graduate."

"When's the earliest you can get here?" he asked. I tried to think about the best-case scenario if I left school right on time.

"Maybe three thirty. At the earliest," I added for good measure. There was another long pause.

"Then it has to be the field. Don't be late. I'll see you on the bleachers." Ok, he was being really weird.

"Oh, and Maeve, don't trust any of them."

"Anyone, who?" Anyone who carried a cellphone? Walked on two legs? The sarcastic answers could be endless if I was more awake.

"Anyone," he said. Just like that he hung up, again.

What was that all about? I shook my head trying to clear it. And who was this mysterious listener? I was pretty sure I wasn't worth a wire tap, especially since I didn't even own a phone. Michael was just a bit too crazy for my taste.

I could hear Lee Ann snoring in the background. I so wanted to join her. I rolled over and willed my brain to turn off. It wasn't that hard. I was just so tired after everything that had happened this week I went right back to sleep. Whatever it was Michael had found, it could wait until a decent hour. Plus tomorrow was the last day of school. I didn't want the principal to have any reason to kick me out of graduation again.

The only thing that could have gotten me over there at this hour was if Brian had shown up. Then all my problems could have been solved.