And then we are all laughing. My friends crack me up. Without them I don’t think I could handle high school. But what am I saying? Right now it seems high school is the least of my worries.
There’s a flash of red just outside the window.
“Hey,” Jonathan says. “Are my eyes messing with me, or did I just see Karen outside your window, Enrique?”
“I don’t know,” Enrique says.
“I didn’t see anything,” Andres says. “Who’s Karen?”
“You don’t want to know,” Jonathan says.
“Jonathan, shut up,” I say. “Karen is my friend.”
But really, he doesn’t want to know.
“Whatever,” Andres says. “I’ve got to go help Mom, anyhow.” He walks out of the room.
My two friends look at me expectantly. “Yeah,” I say. “It was her.”
The front doorbell rings.
“Don’t answer it,” Jonathan says.
“What do you suggest, then? Should we just wait until the zombies come over to see what’s going on?”
“Sorry I said anything. Run over there and get that door,” Jonathan says. “Quick.”
It’s Karen. Alone. The zombies are still across the street, in the shadows, watching us.
“Can I come in?” she asks. “I can only come in if I’m invited.”
I turn around to see Enrique and Jonathan shaking their heads.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” she says. “Or you won’t?”
“I can’t. I won’t. I don’t know.”
“Let me guess, your friends don’t want me in there, do they?”
I shake my head. “What happened?”
She looks pissed. “Let’s see. We burned down a shed, ruined most of their pills. Then Zach and some strange, tall, pale guys showed up and we had to fight our way out of there.”
“Big, tall, pale guys? Like football players?”
“No way. They weren’t students. I don’t think they were even...”
“Even what?”
She bites her lip. “Human.”
“But you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Good,” I say. “I was worried about you.”