thing moving in the shadows. "Ahhh!" we both screamed as the black cat zipped away into the darkness.
"See. Heh-heh. It was just a cat," Sybil said, trying to laugh it off.
"Yeah," I replied. "Heh-heh. A cat." But I knew we were both thinking that the sound we'd first heard couldn't have been a cat. It was most definitely the sound of human, or inhuman, footsteps. Someone or something had been watching us.
Later that night, I sat alone in my room contemplating the future. The darkness lounging in my soul was happy my classmates were all zombies. It told me there was nothing anyone could do about it. We have to get on with our lives. It promised me a new life where 1 was no longer the girl on the sidelines passing the time, observing the good life from the outside instead of living it. I was about to become the queen bee of Sale-sian High.
It told me to enjoy it.
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Chapter Twelve
Zombies are incredibly predictable.
Our first day at school among the living dead started out uneventfully. The zombies came to school and went to the same classes they'd gone to when they were among the living. They lumbered through the halls with a lazy gait, moving on instinct and muscle memory rather than free will or desire. At first, it was frightening moving amongst them with their pasty complexions and mouths twisted into grotesque smiles. But eventually, Sybil and I shook our fears. We moved easily from pack to pack, navigating the corridors of Salesian High.
Don't get me wrong--we could never totally relax around them. They were zombies. A sudden move, a joyous laugh, even a raised eyebrow, any expression of individuality, and we could be dead meat--literally. But as long as we remained expressionless and our movements mirrored the pack, we were safe.
Soon going to school amongst the zombies, walking stiffly and staring off dreamily became second nature to us both.
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One day while Sybil and I were on the third floor, traveling in a pack of grunge zombies, headed to history class, something out of the ordinary happened. As we passed the science lab some mice escaped, darting from the room and across the corridor. This sudden burst of frenetic energy got the zombies' attention. They seemed to awaken from their dreamlike state. Slowly, they got down on all fours in an attempt to catch and eat the mice.
It was a ridiculous exercise. The herky-jerky movements of the mice dumbfounded the sluggish zombies, who ineptly grasped at the tiny rodents, but wound up with handfuls of air. I glanced over at Sybil. We were the only two in the corridor still standing. She shot me a warning glance, then got down on her hands and knees. I didn't move. The zombies were too preoccupied with the mice to notice me. Sybil's eyes were on me, signaling me to get down.
I shot her a look of exasperation. Do I hove to do everything they do? I wondered. Suppose I did join them. Heaven forbid I actually caught a mouse in my bare hands. Yechf If I didn't scream, I'd faint, and that would be the end of me. So I figured it was better to stand passively, observing the silly exercise, than to get on my hands and knees, which might lead to my demise.
Just then a pack of zombies turned the corner, led by Amanda Culpepper. She looked horrible. Her pasty complexion was accented by a sickly green pallor. Her once cute yellow Bebe sundress was smudged with dirt and frayed around the hem, draping her tiny frame like a rag. I stood silently, hoping she and her friends would move on. No such luck. Their dead, black eyes all moved to me.
Sheesh! The things a girl has to do to be prom queen.
Slowly I got down on the floor, pretending to reach in the direction of the darting mice-- ick, ick, ick!
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Amanda and the it-girl zombies got down on the floor as well, joining the fray. How embarrassing, I thought. The former queen of Salesian High crawling around on her hands and knees, trying to make a meal out of mice. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
I thought back to when Amanda ruled the school with her designer wardrobe and movie-star good looks. I remembered the cutting laughter that could send me and others home sobbing, our psyches in shreds. I promised myself as the new queen of Salesian High, I would be different. I would lead with