My Zombie Girlfriend

Chapter 2

"What happened to your hair?"

Zane looked up from his physics textbook to see his mother standing in the doorway. "I just needed a trim." He brushed his hand over the back of his head. "Do you think it's too short?"

"No..." Mrs. Gibson looked lost for words. "It's just different."

"The style is different here," Zane explained lamely.

"Sure. Of course." With his mother still looking weirdly torn about his new haircut, Zane struggled to explain. Luckily, Owen barged in.

"Zane, there's hair all in the sink! Did you shave your legs for the first time since winter?"

A laugh escaped from Mrs. Gibson before she covered her mouth. "You should really clean up after yourself," she said to Zane, and left.

Owen entered Zane's room and flopped on the bed. "Seriously, what did you do to your head?"

Zane looked at his little brother with a new realization. "You were right about my hair."

"Huh?"

"Yeah! You were right about my hair! This girl... well, anyway, I need your advice. On a few things."

Owen stared at him. "What? Are you kidding? Seriously, are you joking around?"

"Clearly, you know something I don't. So I need your help."

"Dude, I don't know anything!"

"Just tell me what you think of my new haircut."

Owen squinted his eyes and studied Zane for several long moments. "I don't know, maybe you should have actually gone to a hair salon? It looks like you had a mental breakdown."

"Fantastic," Zane muttered, dropping his head into his hands and rubbing his eyes.

"Like you had a mental breakdown, were tossed into an asylum, and then managed to escape."

"I get the picture." Zane moaned. "What can I do?"

"I don't know, maybe I could try to even out the back?"

It was a situation neither Zane nor his brother had ever imagined they would be in. Zane with a towel draped over his shoulders and Owen standing over him with a pair of scissors.

"You can never tell anyone about this," Owen warned, thrusting the blades in Zane's face.

"I won't, I swear."

"Cuz I'm actually fitting in here, a little bit. I'm not just Zane Gibson's little brother here."

"Okay, okay. Please, just help me."

"Fine."

Half an hour later Zane examined his new look in the mirror. "I guess I do look less like a crazy person."

"And more like a douchebag," Owen said proudly.

"Wait, isn't that a bad thing?" Zane whipped his head back and forth. "Do I really look like a douchebag?"

"It's a bad thing but a good thing," Owen explained. "You want to fit in here, right? This haircut will help you fit in."

"So you're saying everyone in Palos Verdes has a douchey haircut?"