My Zombie Girlfriend

Chapter 1

"Dude, you look... good."

Zane Gibson pushed his hand through his hair, evening out the haphazard way his dark locks stood out from his scalp.

"Really good. Awesome, in fact."

He flashed a smile. Peering at the mirror, he examined a faint red spot on his forehead. A poke with his finger revealed that while it might become a zit eventually, it wouldn't be an issue today. He spread some Clearasil over the area just in case, then stepped back and took in the overall effect.

Yes. He was just as attractive as he remembered himself being last spring, back before his family had moved from Florida to the west coast. Today was his first day of school in his new town. Zane pointed some finger guns at his reflection. "You are gonna rule this school."

He swaggered on down to the kitchen, where he poured himself some cereal and sat down to eat beside his little brother Owen. Owen had mixed Fruit Loops, Corn Pops, and Lucky Charms together in a small mixing bowl and was eating this new kind of cereal with a serving spoon. This meant their mother had not finished putting on her makeup yet.

"Mom's going to yell at you," he informed his brother.

Owen shrugged. After chewing a few times, he said through a mouthful of sugary essential grains, "You look like a One Direction reject."

"You don't know anything about girls," Zane retorted.

Mrs. Gibson shuffled into the kitchen, yawning. "Morning, boys. You're up early."

"It's the first day of school," Zane reminded her.

"Your senior year," Mrs. Gibson said with a far-off look in her sleepy eyes. "You're going to make so many memories."

"He's going to get a football scholarship," said Mr. Gibson, entering the room. "Isn't that right, champ?"

"You got it, Dad." Zane flashed his father a thoroughly genuine-looking smile. It was his trademark.

Zane would have had a football scholarship in the bag at his old school. He was a star quarterback, and had the grades to be valedictorian, and could have had his pick of any girl at school. He had no doubts that he'd soon make his way to the top at this new school, but he'd really have to work at it. If they hadn't moved, senior year would have been a breeze. Zane sighed.

"Not nervous about your first day, are you?" Mr. Gibson asked.

"Not at all," Zane lied.

***

Zane slid his Lexus ES into a parking space in the Palos Verdes High School lot and stopped to look around at his new classmates. He had a backpack, and it looked like messenger bags were "in" here. Other than that, his designer jeans and plain white T-shirt weren't going to make any waves. He shrugged his backpack on and started to head inside...

...when the blonde girl leaning against the brick wall near the entrance caught his eye.

She was, in a word, gorgeous. Long, tanned legs in super-short denim cutoffs, a lacy white tank top. There were some other students near her, but Zane barely saw them. This girl, she had to be the most popular girl in school. Her disinterest in her own group of friends meant she had the power to not pay attention.

As he approached, Zane tried to see what she was staring at, without being too obvious about it. Was she simply people-watching, or waiting for a boyfriend to arrive? There was nothing in her line of vision except some palm trees and the driveway where parents were pulling up in expensive cars to drop off their kids.