This was going to be Y/N's happiest day of her life. She was about to try out for the cheerleading squad with her sister, Addison, and her best friend, Bree. The three of them had been working so hard on all the routines for months just to be able to get on the cheerleading squad together. Now, it was time to show everyone who was the best here at the tryouts.

"Guys, I'm nervous," Bree whispered to Addison and Y/N as they walked through the double-doors into the gym where the cheerleading tryouts were being held. She wrung her hands together and scanned the gym. There were more people than what Y/N had imagined would show up for the tryouts. Little groups were scattered here and there throughout the area, and the hum of talking filled Y/N's ears. "I don't think I can do this."

Addison glanced over at her sister, and they nodded to each other. Y/N took Bree's left arm while Addison took her right arm, pulling her back into the gym as Bree had whirled around to leave. They dragged her farther into the gym, in between multiple groups of people to make sure that she wouldn't escape before it was too late. With a crowd of people between them and the doors, both Addison and Y/N let go of Bree.

"We're doing this together," Y/N told her with a nod. "If you leave, we all leave. Do you want that to happen?"

"I'm not as good as you or Addison, though. It wouldn't be fair for me to drag you down."

"That's not the truth, and you know it," Addison said fiercely. "We're a team. We have to do it together, Bree. All three of us."

A smile spread across Bree's face just as something loud echoed throughout the gym. The lights were all shutting off to be replaced by the flashing red and pink lights. Everyone knew what they meant, but no one had ever experienced the zombie alarm before. The group closest to Y/N started screaming and sprinting toward the doors. 

Y/N whirled around to find Bree and Addison being swept away in the crowds that were now racing for the doors. She couldn't grab onto them, to force them to stay with her instead of running away from something that truly wasn't a problem. Before she knew it, people surrounded her, and she was forced to follow them or risk be trampled underneath their hurried feet.

She tried to tell people that zombies weren't bad, but her voice got drowned out by all the screams and yells by everyone else in the crowd. She had done so much research about the zombies and how they became zombies that she had come to the conclusion that they truly weren't harmful to anyone. No one seemed to be listening to her, though. It didn't help that no one really knew about her research, either, so they probably wouldn't have believed her if her voice could break through the barrier.

She broke away from the crowd that started flowing through the doors to the zombie safe rooms with a sigh. Y/N was utterly and completely alone in the hallway while the zombie alarm blared, and the red and pink lights flashed. The only way she could get out of this noise was if she went to an empty classroom or ditched school. She chose the empty classroom because there was no way she was going to skip school.

Just as she tried the door to the first classroom she found, a person appeared in the hallway she was standing in. She knew just by looking at him that he was a boy based on the way he towered above even the plants in the corner of the hallway. He had his hands pressed against his ears, probably to block the noise of the alarm.

"Come with me," she said to him, gesturing to the classroom that she had found. In the pink and red lights, she could see a frown appear on his face, but he immediately started walking toward her with big lumbering steps. 

Y/N pushed the door open and stepped into the dark classroom with the boy following her closely. She slammed the door shut; the alarm grew much quieter in here, which was such a relief. The boy slowly slid his hands off his ears and let out a breath of relief. 

"What in the world was that?" he asked her.

"The zombie alarm." She reached toward the light switch when his hand shot out, blocking her path. She looked up at him with a frown on her face. Because of the glass along the side of the door, the pink and red lights reflected inside, shimmering across his eyes that were darting everywhere besides her. "Do you not want the lights on?"

"Um, no," he said quickly. His hand dropped back to his side before being shoved into his pants pocket. The awkwardness in the room was growing into a thick blanket that made it hard to breathe. "I'm a little overstimulated right now with the flashing lights and the alarm. Is it okay if we keep the lights off?"

"Sure."

Y/N walked over to the closest desk and sat down on top of the desk instead of in the chair. The boy trailed behind her, but he didn't sit down like she did. He hovered in front of her like he didn't know what to do.

"Are you new here?" she asked him. "Because I feel like I would recognize you, but I don't."

"Um, yeah, I am," he said with a stiff nod. "My name's Zed. I just started today, actually."

"Well, Zed, welcome," Y/N said, offering him a smile. He didn't return it. "I hope you enjoy your time here, though I would recommend not interacting with half of the people who go here."

"Why?"

"Because they're zombie haters." Y/N shook her head as anger spilled into her chest. "They're afraid of the zombies that live in Zombietown, but it goes farther than that. They hate the zombies for being different."

"Oh."

"Zombies are nothing different than the rest of us," Y/N told him. "They have wishes and fears and everything like we do. Just because they are zombies does not mean they don't deserve all the perks the rest of us have."

"You really believe that?" he asked her softly.

"Well, of course. Do you?"

"Yeah, I do. Wholeheartedly."

Y/N smiled to herself. She finally found someone else who shared her beliefs about the zombies. At least she wasn't stuck in this room with someone who was going to complain about zombies the whole time. She probably would have died if that happened. But fate had other ideas for her, and she was grateful for that.

"What are you most excited for now that you're going to school here?" she asked him. "I know I'm excited to try out for the cheerleading team."

"I want to play football," Zed said excitedly. In the pink and red faint lights, she could see a wide smile spread across his face. He seemed to be bouncing with excitement and happiness, and that spread to her in the form of a smile. "I've been dreaming of being a football player ever since I was a little boy. I have this dream that I score the final winning point with seconds left on the clock."

"Well, when this whole mess is over, you should try out for the football team," Y/N told him. He suddenly stopped moving. Her smile slipped off her face. "You do want to try out for the football team, right?"

"I would love to," he said, his voice softer this time. She wished she could see what was going on in his mind right now, but it was too dark in this classroom. "But I don't think they would let me."

"Why not?"

"I'm not what they're looking for."

The lights suddenly flicked back on as the shrill alarm cut out. Y/N glanced up at the lights in surprise, hating that the zombie lockdown was over now. She wanted to spend more time with Zed because he was funny and new. Besides, in the pink and red lights, he looked incredibly cute. 

When she looked back at Zed, she gasped. "You're a zombie," she said to him. It all made sense to her now. He was new because he was a zombie. He wanted to play football but didn't know if he really could because he was a zombie. He agreed that zombies were good people because he was a zombie. "Why didn't you tell me, Zed?"

"I was afraid," he said softly. "I wasn't sure how you were going to react."

"But I told you that I'm not afraid of zombies."

"Words are only words. I didn't know how you would truly react if you knew what I am."

Y/N slid off the desk and approached him. She reached out, placing her hand on his arm gently. He glanced down at her hand. "What I said was how I really feel, Zed," she said to him, holding his gaze with her own. His eyes searched hers, trying to find anything wrong with her statement. He wouldn't find anything, though. "I'm not going to hurt you or turn you in or anything like that."

He let out a breath. "I believe you."

"Good because I want to hang out with you later."

She had no idea where that came from. Both of them took a few steps away from each other as the awkward blanket fell over them again. Y/N couldn't believe that she had actually said that to him, especially because she'd never hung out with a boy alone before. 

A slow smile spread across his face. "That sounds nice."

---

"How do I look?" Y/N asked Bree and Addison as she stepped back into her room after changing into the outfit she had picked out. She had on a pretty pink shirt and some jeans with a pair of tennis shoes. Both Addison and Bree remained silent. "Do I look that bad?"

"That's what you're going to wear on a date with Zed?" Addison asked her, raising both her eyebrows. 

"I didn't say it was a date. I said that we are hanging out together. That's it."

"That sounds like a date to me," Bree told her. "A girl and a boy, totally alone, at night. That's usually when things happen."

Y/N rolled her eyes at them as Addison agreed with Bree. She couldn't believe both of them were thinking that her and Zed were going to do anything besides talk together. They had just met earlier that day. What else would they be doing tonight? In their minds, probably everything under the moon that dealt with romance. 

"You guys are ridiculous," she said to them. "I think I look good. Besides, I feel comfortable. Isn't that what I want?"

The doorbell suddenly rang, echoing throughout the house. Bree dropped the brush she was holding. The sound of it falling covered up the sound of Y/N's heart thudding against her chest. Zed was already here. He was waiting for her at the front door of her house. Suddenly, she didn't look so good in the mirror, a green hue spreading across her cheeks.

"Do whatever you can to stop Mom and Dad from opening that door," Y/N said quickly to Bree and Addison. She grabbed her phone and said, "I don't want them seeing him. They'll hate him because he's a zombie."

"We got you," Addison told her. She started running for the door but turned around to throw her arms around Y/N's neck. She squeezed her sister tightly. "Have fun tonight. I love you."

"Love you too, Addison."

Addison and Bree raced out of the door, and Y/N followed them. She took a different route through the house to make it to the door. She could hear Addison and Bree talking, so that must have meant that they were distracting her parents. Her heart soared in her chest, but it crashed down to the ground when she saw that her mother had opened the door.

She slowed to a stop next to her mother and saw a smile on Zed's face. Her mother must not have started talking to him yet. He was wearing the same outfit from today, but he still looked extremely cute.

"Hello," Zed said to Y/N's mother brightly. "I'm here to pick up Y/N."

That was when her mother screamed. Y/N covered her ears with her hands as the smile slipped off Zed's face. He locked eyes with her, and she felt like she was going to cry. What if he ran away from here because of her mother? What if he never talked to her again? What if he didn't believe that she was different from her mother?

Before she knew it, Y/N pushed by her mother and stepped next to Zed, taking his hand in hers. She squeezed it. He squeezed it back. She glanced back at the doorway to find her mom and dad glaring at Zed together. Addison and Bree stood behind them, both with sad looks on their faces.

"Y/N, get away from that zombie right now," her mother said to her firmly.

"I don't care what you two think," Y/N said to her parents. They both looked at each other, probably wondering how their daughter could talk back to them like that. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Zed's been nothing but nice to me the entire day. He has respected me, and I think he deserves respect, too."

"Now, Y/N, you don't know what you're talking about," her mother said to her. "We know how zombies act. We have seen it before."

"Seen what? Propaganda?"

"You will not talk to your mother like that, Y/N," her dad said angrily. The frown on his face was angrier than she had ever seen before. "Our word is final. You will not go out with that zombie."

"I'm sorry, but I will go out with him," Y/N told them with a shrug. "There's nothing you can do to stop me. I am able to make my own decisions."

Y/N took Zed's hand and dragged him away from her parents before they could chain her up inside to keep her away from him. They hurried down the street together until they both broke out into a run. Their laughter echoed around the empty street, sounding like heaven to Y/N and Zed both. This was going to be the best day of her life, she knew it.