NICOLETTE AOIBHE KAVANAGH
"… Then this kid covered in so much blood collapsed in the classroom. There was an enormous bite mark on his neck and… buzz… buzz…" Halfway through Kristina's storytelling, she becomes a bee. I don't tune in any word she says. It's too boring.
I'm not in the mood to gossip today. It must be the weather.
I think her nightmare is about… um, what was that again? It's about …
I exhale.
Ahh, seriously, why do I even think about it?
I mindlessly spin the pen around my finger. I can't think of anything about my essay in Literature. I'm out of ideas. This must be the most boring day this year. I just really feel lazy.
From my periphery, I can see Liza, Carlo, and Jee Ho reflect the same mood as mine.
The only person in the group who's all rainbows and stuff is Kristina Yagami. She hasn't stopped talking about her nightmare since this morning. Even if you tell her to stop, she'll still talk. Believe me when I say she'll arrange a sermon for a walker cult right this minute. That's how crazy this bitch is.
"It was scary. It felt so real and vivid that I thought it was happening…" Kristina's voice blends with the air conditioner's white noise and I jolt when my elbow slides down the chair, causing me to lose balance.
I focus my gaze on the sunlight piercing through the transparent sliding doors.
For a long time now, Harlem Café has been our favorite hang-out where we do everything. I don't remember how this became our favorite place, but this place harbors good memories.
"Yagams, look,"
I turn to look at the person who has the guts to finally speak. "As much as we'd like to talk about you, it's just not the day. Maybe you can tell us about your adventure with Unikitty tomo-" Kristina breathes down Liza's neck, blowing sultry air between us, "It's not about Unikitty! Geez, I'm trying to warn about you a zombie apocalypse that might ensue! Are you guys even listening?" she retorts.
Liza, Carlo, Jee Ho, and I share a smirk.
Kristina rubs her eyes from frustration. "Never mind the question. I know the answer."
She turns to me instead, "Nicolette! Why aren't you siding with me? You're my best friend!" she tearfully exclaims. I shrug. "Sorry, bruh. Tell me when I'm in the zone."
With that, we continue doing nothing.
Jee Ho stares blankly at the glass window as he licks his ice cream. Carlo is napping peacefully on the table while Liza is listening to sad music on her iPod staring blankly at me.
… wait, what am I doing?
I'm observing all of them like a creep. I should do this more often to see who freaks out.
I turn back to Kristina to find her pouting at me. When she realizes no one seems to care, she stands up and stomps away from the table, but she doesn't look up so she smacks face flat on the sliding doors and falls on her butt with a thump.
"Ahahaha, 'ya stupid bitch!" Jee Ho and Carlo howl.
She rubs her reddening nose as she glares at them. "Ow, you think this is funny?" They laugh. "Yes!"
Without missing a beat, Kristina chases after the Asian kids. But since the café has such a compact space that's just half the size of my room, she corners them much quicker than outside.
Kristina cackles.
"Well," I glance at Liza, "That's a relief. Eleven more hours before Kristina the Clairvoyant continues talking about the undead. Let's prepare for the worst, aye?"
After a long shower, I change into my favorite pajamas and head for bed.
I peek through the crack of the master bedroom's door to find my mother on the bed. The sound of her snores assures me so I leave her be. I open the door to my room to find my beloved Finnish Spitz, Mathew, on the floor sound asleep. I laugh at the sight.
I crawl on the bed and make myself comfortable.
The lights are out.
As I strive to find the light switch, something catches my ankle and I fall face flat on the floor and even hit my hip on a hard surface. "Okay, ow," I moan in pain. The darkness fades and sketches of objects fill my sight. When my sight fully adjusts to the darkness, I look around.
This is not my room.
What the hell am I doing in the classroom? And, why is it so dark?
The classroom is empty, except for me. I grope on the wall for the light switch, but I can't seem to find it. Tsk.
My body stiffens when I hear something loud from outside. Since it's deathly silent here, I might even hear a pin drop. I peek through the glass panel windows, but all I can see is the firewall of the next building. Every classroom on the fourth floor has glass windows, but ours is the only room with windows that face the firewall.
Nothing seems out of place.
I give up on the light switch and head for the back door. I wonder where everyone is. Although I'm alone, I can see familiar backpacks on the floor. Is it Recess time or Lunch? No one's around.
I open the back door but freeze when I realize what the loud sound I hear is.
Moans.
Gurgles.
My eyebrows furrow. The moans and gurgles only intensify as I walk towards the staircase. I can now point where the sound comes from.
The ground floors.
As soon as I reach the banister of the staircase, I look down to find limbs outstretching through the steel gate.
When did the staircase get a steel gate?
I climb down the stairs to investigate. Just as I am about to reach the ground floor, a hand clasps my ankle and surprises me. "Ack!" I kick it away by instinct. The hold is firm and I barely have enough equilibrium to fight if off, but I break away from the hold and lose balance. I take a deep breath before I look back.
I scream.
The tension in my throat hurt and I try to stop, but I can't. The disembodied hand in front of me stops me from so. The fingers flex, and I scream again. That's when I hear it. The moans and the gurgles. I stiffen.
I'm right in front of its source. I look at my right to find familiar faces peering back at me. But they defy my memory.
They don't look the same as I remember them.
Their hands outstretch to grab me, their mouths wide as black saliva leaks from their mouth, and their eyes… oh God. Blue as ice.
It's a horrid sight.
The only object that's protecting me from them is the wooden barricade that blocks the staircase. I don't know who put them there, but I'm more than thankful they did. For the first time in my life, I let fear bite my tongue like a poisonous spider. It latches on my skin–sticky and hot.
Amongst the crowd, I spy two familiar faces that don't belong there. Fear overrides my senses.
No. It can't be.
"Kristina ...? Liza?"
They look up at the same time. I sigh in relief and close my eyes. All just a misunderstanding. I open my eyes to find it is. Their eyes tell me something. Different.
They moan like the rest.
They're just like the rest.
Undead.
"Nicolette, wake up!"
I release a war cry, but a hand slaps me silent – ultimately cutting me short. I open my eyes and gasp, air filling my deprived lungs. Sweat dribbles down my chin, and I attempt to calm my raggedy heartbeat. I look up to find Mom hovering above me, her eyes wide with concern. "What the-ow Mama, what happened?"
The room looks double.
She closes her eyes and sighs in relief. "You just had a nightmare. A bad one," she says.
It isn't one of those—
She shakes her head as if she can read my thoughts. "I don't know. You were screaming Kristina and Liza's name as if they died or something bad happened to them. Tell me, was your nightmare about the undead?"