It's Complicated: A Zombie Romance Novel

Popcorn Anyone?

"So where were you today?" Lee Ann asked. We were camped out in her living room in front of the TV. After the day I'd had it was nice to just sit here and watch. "I looked for you after school to see what we wanted to do tonight, but you'd split."

I shoved popcorn into my mouth to avoid answering.

"You know you can't hide anything from me." She was right about that. "I'll find out one way or another."

That made me wonder if Gideon was the kiss-and-tell type. Best friend excluded, of course. Did he have a best friend to share stuff like what happened today? I really wanted to know.

"Earth to Mae. You're being very spacey tonight."

I picked up my soda and took a long sip.

"Don't tell me you're still mad about having to go to the Senior party?"

"No, it's not that," I said. Honestly, in all the excitement, I'd forgotten about it. "But now that you mention it, I still don't want to go."

"So this whole bit isn't an avoidance tactic?" There went Lee Ann's counseling. Her parents had her with a psychologist since she refused to go poopy on the potty at age two and accused them of child neglect. She tried to play it down, but both of us knew she could major in psychology and not even break a sweat.

"No, it's nothing. I just popped over to U-Dub to see about some stuff," I said.

"What would bring you over there?" she asked through a mouth full of popcorn.

"Just wanted to check on my brother, see if he came back."

"What brother?"

"Brian, my brother." Here we went again. I was trying to avoid this line of questioning.

Lee Ann shook her head. "Um, I hate to break it to you, but you are an only child. Just like me. That's why we make such good friends." She side hugged me. I pulled her arm off. This was not the time to be making me feel better.

"We're good friends because I make you look good," I retorted.

"That too," she said smiling.

"Hey, Make Me Up is back on," I said. We were in the middle of the marathon.

"OOOh! I just L. O. V. E. season three."

"Shh. I'm trying to watch." They were in the makeup stage. They had already gotten the assignment and chosen their models. Now it was all about the design.

"I wonder what it would be like to be a model on this show," Lee Ann said, staring intently at the screen. I looked over at her.

"You could totally be a model," I confirmed.

"Yeah, I could," she said dreamily.

"What's holding you back?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to be a typical model. You know, all high fashion and clothes and stuff."

"You, not into clothes?" I looked down at my own outfit. Another one of her projects gone right. I wondered when she had the time to completely redo my wardrobe since I'd moved in. I'd only been here a few days. Did she sew in her sleep or something?

"Not high fashion. I wouldn't mind being one of the models on this show though ," she added.

"Better to be a judge," I said.

"They have the best of both worlds, right?" Lee Ann commented, throwing a handful of popcorn at me.

"Right," I said, picking up some pieces off of the floor and throwing them back. We both broke out into giggles. We went back to watching the show. They had just awarded the winners and now the bottom three were up on the chopping block.

'I still haven't confessed about Gideon,' I chided myself. Hiding something that big from your best friend was never a good idea. 'But him saving you and the other thing really isn't a big thing.' I told myself back. Yeah, it wasn't a big thing at all. Keep telling yourself that, Mae. I was in so much trouble.