A knock at the door drew her attention. She stayed where she was, hoping the person would go away. It was probably for Mom anyway.
Then the sudden possibility that it could be Nolan seized her. She jumped to her feet and launched herself to the front door. Yanking it open, hope died a swift death in her throat.
Emmaline and Sanjana stared back at her. Not Nolan.
“Hey!” Emmaline exclaimed. “We thought you might want to do something. We’re taking a study break and thought you might want to go get a pizza with us.”
Hayden shook her head, ready to tell them no. That she didn’t want to do anything. That she wanted to be alone.
Then again, being alone hadn’t always kept her safe from her feelings. It hadn’t kept her safe from anything. Here she was, miserable. Maybe she should stop obsessing over what she thought was best for her and start paying attention to what felt best.
She could use a friend right now. Friends.
If she wanted things to change, she was going to have to step up and try changing things herself. Stop sticking her head in the sand, as Nolan had accused.
Hayden took a deep breath, feeling some of the tension ease out of her body. “Yeah,” she said, nodding, a vague idea taking shape in her mind. “Can I borrow one of your phones to call work? I don’t feel like going in. I’d love a pizza with you guys . . . and maybe I could get your opinion.”
“Opinion?” Emmaline exchanged a look with Sanjana. “Intriguing.”
“Yeah.” She nodded slowly, the idea becoming less vague. “I could use your help with something.”
Lesson #37
It’s always better when there are genuine feelings.
x Nolan x
Nolan contemplated staying home the next day. He’d been absent only twice this year. The world wouldn’t stop if he missed one day.
He was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, convinced he wasn’t going to school. He’d reached the end with Hayden and that crushed him more than he could have anticipated. It was crazy. Things had hardly even started with her, and yet he felt as though something epic had ended.
The door to his room suddenly banged open.
“Hey! What are you doing still in bed? Let’s go.”
He sat up and glared at his sister. “You’re taking rides with me again?”
“Yeah. I’m taking rides with you again. Just like you’re playing basketball with Beau again.”
“Knew about that, huh?”
“Of course I knew. I know everything.”
Nolan stared at his sister. She was . . . different. Confident and assertive. It was a good thing. Their father would approve of this side of her.
Emmaline yanked the covers off him. “So let’s go. And don’t worry. Beau will bring me home.” She winked and walked back out of his room, shouting. “C’mon. Get a move on!”
Groaning, he climbed out of bed and got ready. At least his sister was talking to him again. There was that. In fact, she talked to him the entire drive to school. She was peppy. Perky. Happy again. Maybe even happier than before.
Beau was waiting for them in the parking lot. Nolan schooled his features not to reflect his disgust when they hugged and kissed. Just a peck, but it was still something he was going to have to get used to seeing. A bit like exposure therapy, he’d need to ease his way in.
“Hey, man,” Beau greeted.
Nolan nodded and bumped fists with him. “Hey.” It was a start.
He fell in beside them and they all walked toward the school entrance with dozens of others streaming in from the senior parking lot.
“Hey, hold on.” Emmaline’s hand circled Nolan’s arm, stopping him on the bottom step leading up to the entrance.
Nolan paused and looked down at her. “What?” She and Beau exchanged knowing looks. “What?” he repeated.
Smiling, they both looked toward the front of the school. He did the same.
His gaze swept over the building. He didn’t notice anything amid all the other students at first. But then someone—or something—was walking out of the double doors. Everyone was stopping to stare, point, and pull out their phones.
He stared too. It wasn’t just anyone. It was a zombie. Holding a sign.
Specifically, Hayden was the zombie holding a sign.
He squinted like that might help him understand what he was seeing.
She wore ripped and dirty clothes. Her eyes were red, her face pale . . . except in the places where it was gouged and bloody and rotting. She looked amazing. Incredible. Like something from one of her movies.
A crowd formed around them, murmuring and watching raptly.
His gaze dropped to the blood-speckled sign she held and the words written there.
Even during a zombie apocalypse I choose you . . .
Will you go to the winter formal with me?
His heart seized, constricted right there in his chest. “Hayden?” he whispered, taking the steps necessary to reach her. He stopped in front of her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you to the dance.”
He shook his head, ignoring how his heart unclenched itself and started to race. “You hate this stuff.”
“Yeah.” She looked up at him in her red lenses. He wished he could see her real eyes right then, but he appreciated the lengths she had taken. She was making a spectacle of herself—over a dance. Over him. “But I don’t hate you, and you know. I thought it might be nice if a girl asked you for a change.” Her lips wobbled in a smile. “Like we talked about.”
Yeah. He remembered.
His heart swelled then, beating faster and harder in his chest. He brushed a finger against the desiccated flap of skin hanging off her cheek. It was impressively gross. “You’re kind of obsessed with me, aren’t you?”
Her red-eyed gaze held his. “Yeah. I am.”
“Yes, Hayden. I choose you, too.”
A happy, broken little laugh escaped her then. He leaned down and kissed her, vaguely aware of the applause erupting around them.
He came up slightly, his lips a scant inch from hers. “You know this is the best dance proposal in the history of dance proposals.”
Her voice was smug. “I know.”
“I’m going to have my work cut out for me when it’s my turn to ask you.”
Her red eyes seemed to glow brighter. “I have faith in you.”
Lesson #38
Leave the horror for zombie movies, not your relationship.
Hayden settled into the comfortable movie theater seat. She’d never been to this cinema before. It was too nice, too expensive, but Nolan insisted they go somewhere special. She’d been waiting to see this movie forever and they should watch it in style. His words.
“Excited?” Nolan leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. They did a lot of that. Over the last few months, she’d gotten to know the texture of his lips better than her own, and yet she didn’t think she would ever get enough of him.
“Yeah.” She smiled.
“I don’t like zombie movies,” Monica complained as she crossed in front of them, her fingers laced with Lia’s.
“No one made you come,” Emmaline shouted, tossing some popcorn at Monica from the tub she shared with Beau.