Teen Angst & Zombies (Working Title) ---Chapter 1---

A group of High School friends find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. And you thought parents were the worst of your problems, right?

Chapter 1

 

 

Jeremy rolled over in bed hitting his head on the wall beside him.

“Oww… That hurt,” he mumbled to himself.

Drifting into consciousness, Jeremy sat up, stretched and rubbed his eyes. What time is it? He asked himself.

He looked to the left of his bed where his iPod dock sat on top of his side table. The clock read 9:23 am.

“Guess it’s time to get up,” Jeremy said to no one in particular.

Jeremy slowly pulled himself out of bed, stretching and yawning as he sat on the edge of it. As he stood up a GameStation Portable fell out of his lap and hit the floor, knocking the game out of it.

“Ahh CRAP! I do not want to redo that boss fight!” he protested loudly as he popped the game back in and checked his save file.

Whew! That was too close, he thought, tossing the handheld system back on his bed.

Jeremy then grabbed a towel off his bed post and shuffled towards the bathroom. After five to ten minutes, Jeremy re-emerged from the bathroom. Towel wrapped around his skinny, yet muscle toned frame, he shuffled his way back to his room and shut his door. He shuffled a few more feet towards his iPod dock and started scrolling through the artists list. He mumbled to himself as he went through the list, “Anarchy Fight Squad, Big Bad Jazz Dad, BPM Club? No. Desert Trance Force? No. Existence? Nah. I Kill Prom Queens? Sure, why not? How about, the ‘When Goodbyes Last Forever’ album? That sounds good.” He clicked play on his iPod and cranked the volume up on its dock. Suddenly, I Kill Prom Queens filled the room with death metal. Jeremy took a deep breath as he let the music wash over him.

He quickly dried himself off and pulled on a pair of boxers. He moved slowly around the room searching for a pair of clean-ish black skinny jeans. When he had found some under a shirt, he pulled them on. Jeremy looked around his room again, this time searching for his silver studded belt. Jeremy loved the belt, mainly because it had a massive Punisher skull belt buckle. After finding the belt, he fed it through his belt loops, making sure the buckle was on his hip. He always put big belt buckles off to the side, on his hip. Placing a pair of silver dog tags around his neck, Jeremy grabbed a black v-neck off a hanger. Slipping the v-neck on, he walked back towards the bathroom and grabbed a brush. He ran it through his bleached white hair a couple of times and shook his head to muss it a little. His hair fell straight and was almost long enough to place in a small pony tail. Looking in the mirror Jeremy studied a green eyed face for signs of acne.

Satisfied he headed back towards his room. On his way back he slipped a pair of black socks on and grabbed his black mid-calf, buckled boots. He hopped down the stairs while pulling his boots on, and buckled them up when he reached the bottom. Rubbing an eye with one hand, he grabbed a Pepsi from the fridge with the other and grabbed his phone, wallet and keys off the counter as he exited out the front door. Slipping his wallet into his back pocket, he looked at his phone and punched in a number. He placed the phone to his ear as the dial tone started. A few seconds later a girl’s voice was audible on the other end of the line.

“Hello? Jeremy?” The girl answered.

“Hey Vivienne! How’re you doing today?” Jeremy replied as he opened his car door.

“You know I hate it when you call me that,” Vivienne replied with a hint of annoyance.

“Yeah, I know,” Jeremy laughed, “So, are you doing anything or not?”

“No, of course not Jeremy! You know there’s nothing to do at this place.” She replied sarcastically. Jeremy started his black Tahoe and pulled out of the driveway.

“Well, Viv, how does a movie sound?”  Jeremy asked. There was a pause as Vivienne thought about the idea.

“I don’t know. What movies are out?” asked Vivienne.

“Well, there’s that one movie with the ninja, assassin guy. What was it called?” Jeremy replied.

“Ninja: The Assassin, Jeremy.” Vivienne let out a chuckle as she dismissed the stupidity.

“Right,” Jeremy said, slightly embarrassed. “So, Ninja: The Assassin?”

Vivienne let out another small laugh, “Sure, that sounds great! Do you remember where I live? Or are you going to have a brain fart about that too?” she laughed openly this time.

“Oh hush.” Jeremy said embarrassed. “I’ll see you in a few, ok?” He asked.

“Sure thing. See you soon!”

“See you soon, bye.” Jeremy hung up shortly after and turned out of his neighborhood. After a few winding turns and a couple of stop lights Jeremy pulled in to the parking lot of St. Joseph’s Catholic Boarding School. It was there that Vivienne’s parents condemned her to live. They had never been too fond of her less than mainstream tastes and decided that Catholic boarding school may change that.

Inattentive, work centered parents never knew how to deal with their kids. Jeremy thought to himself.

His own experiences allowed him to assume so. Of course, Vivienne’s family was very wealthy, where as his own family was fairly middle-class. Jeremy chose a parking spot as close to the front doors as he could and put the car in to park. Immediately after, he pulled out his old, beat up, flip-phone. Unlike Vivienne, he didn’t have enough money to buy the cutting-edge technology. Although, he was saving as much as he could for the newest smartphone. He flipped the phone open, opened the text message program, and quickly messaged Vivienne, letting her know that he was waiting outside for her. As he closed his phone and looked up he saw a very familiar- and very beautiful- silhouette. Jeremy had parked with the driver’s side of the car facing the school and as Vivienne walked in front of his car, he sighed lightly and smiled.

In front of him was the most amazing girl he had ever met, Vivienne Carson. Her mahogany hair was in its usual style, curly and long. Her bangs fell to her eyes but curled back up slightly past her eyebrows, framing her pale face. Her sapphire colored eyes were outlined in heavy black eyeliner. Her face was thin with slightly dimpled cheeks. Her lips, which were very soft in his opinion, were a dark red. Around her neck was a sterling silver rosary, inlaid with a single ruby. At this point Vivienne opened the door.

“Hey, Jeremy,” she said as she sat down with a soft sigh, “Ready for the movie?”

Jeremy looked at her fully. She was wearing her favorite corset. The red, white and black garment led Jeremy’s eyes to a very particular place. Catching himself before he was caught, he looked down. He then noticed she was wearing a black frilled skirt and High-Top Converse. He was always a little confused by her footwear though.

“Umm…” Jeremy started. “You look amazing,” he said as he slowly quickened his speech. ”And yes, I’m ready for the movie.” Jeremy threw the car in to reverse and looked backwards as he pulled out of the parking spot. Putting the car back in to drive he waited for Vivienne to buckle before he wound his way back out of the parking lot. As Jeremy pulled up to a stop sign, he rolled the windows down and lit a cigarette.

“So, you excited for this movie Viv?” He said, taking a drag.

“Really Jeremy?” She asked with a slightly sarcastic tone, “It’s supposed to be like a Ninjutsu Warrior movie!” Vivienne laughed as she thought of all the senseless limb removal that took place in her favorite video game. Jeremy’s mouth fell open as he pulled his cigarette away.

“Wait. For real?” Jeremy asked, “How the hell is that much gore even allowed in theaters?” He exclaimed, dumbfounded.

“So long as it isn’t a porno, they’ll allow just about anything!” Vivienne laughed as she explained the simplicity of movie ratings to her clueless boyfriend.

Before long Jeremy had taken his last drag and the two pulled in to a parking spot near the theater doors. Jeremy quickly turned the car off and got out, waiting in front of it for Vivienne. As Vivienne walked over, Jeremy smiled and locked the car, putting his keys in his back left pocket.

“Ready to see the movie?” Jeremy asked sarcastically. Vivienne gave him a half-amused face and grabbed his right hand with her left, pulling him towards the ticket booth.

“Of course I am Jeremy!” Vivienne announced with laughter as she continued pulling him along. As the two reached the ticket booth, Jeremy took out his wallet. A single clerk awaited them.

“Good morning, sir,” Announced the clerk through a crackling microphone and speaker, “And welcome to Cinemagic Theaters. How may I help you?”

“Umm… Two tickets for Ninja: The Assassin please.” Jeremy replied as he removed his debit card and driver’s license. The clerk entered the request and calculated the price.

“Eleven-fifty is your total. May I see your ID?” The clerk announced. Jeremy slid his ID and debit card under the booth’s glass window and waited for the clerk to finish.

“Thank you,” the clerk said as he returned the ID. He quickly swiped the debit card and returned that as well.

Jeremy put the items back in his wallet and returned it to his back-right pocket. The clerk waited for the tickets to print and tore them free when they had finished.

“Here are your tickets. Enjoy your show!” The clerk exclaimed as he handed Jeremy the tickets.

“Thanks, man.” Jeremy replied as he gave Vivienne her ticket. Jeremy turned to his girlfriend and smiled.

“Would you like any food?” Jeremy asked as they walked through the theater doors.

“Umm,” Vivienne thought for a moment. Suddenly she knew.

“Skittles!” She exclaimed enthusiastically. Jeremy laughed at her random desire and gave her a quick kiss.

“Alright, Skittles it is!” He said laughing.

 

 

 

 

 

Tim woke suddenly to something wet and freezing cold thrown on his face. He sat upright quickly and threw the cold, wet towel off his face. He rubbed his eyes and looked to his right.

“What the hell Dad?” Tim exclaimed, slight anger in his voice. The tall dark haired man to his right, his father, looked at him, unamused.

“Tim, it is almost eleven and we have church in an hour. You need to get yourself out of bed and dressed, now,” Tim’s father demanded before he turned and left the room.

Tim let out a heavy sigh and threw the covers off as he got out of bed. As he stood up, Tim looked across the room. In front of him was one of his most prized possessions. The 2006 Little League State Champions Trophy, along with a picture of his old team. Next to it was a smaller picture of two kids goofing around with each other. The obvious one was a younger Tim, but the other blonde haired boy was completely different now. It was his best friend, Jeremy Horst. The two had played baseball together for nine years before Jeremy quit in high school to join the theater department as a stagehand.

 

The championship game was their greatest best friend moment to date. Jeremy was the clean-up hitter and pitcher, Tim would bat right before Jeremy and was his catcher. It was top of the seventh inning, eight to nine with two outs. Tim had just batted, making it to second. Jeremy went up to bat and took two strikes. He remembered everything going dead silent as the opposing pitcher wound up and threw the ball. Jeremy’s batting technique had always been much better than anyone else Tim had ever seen. As Jeremy brought the bat around a loud, metallic ring was heard as the ball made contact and was sent flying to the gap between center and right field.

As Tim and Jeremy sprinted towards their goal, cheering erupted. Both the boys paused and looked at where the ball had gone. Tim was in disbelief. Somehow, scrawny Jeremy managed to just barely hit the ball over the fence. The outfielders just stared at where the ball had gone over and the two boys jogged around the bases and back to their dugout. The next batter was thrown out at first. Top of the seventh inning and they were one point ahead.

The game was pretty relaxed after that, until there were two outs and a runner at third and first with the team’s big hitter at the plate. Jeremy stood at the mound looking at Tim’s hand for a pitch suggestion. He remembered giving Jeremy the middle finger. It was their own sign for leaving things up to the other. Jeremy nodded and threw the ball into the ground at Tim’s feet. As the ball hit, Tim had already turned to get the ball from the backstop. The runner at third base decided to steal home and sprinted towards home plate. When the runner was halfway, Tim already had possession of the ball and was running back to the plate. He remembered smirking, a lot, as he stood in the runner’s path. He also remembered completely taking him out. After that it was a blur of cheering and congratulations.

As Tim stood in the middle of his room, wearing only his boxers, he smiled at the old memories. He sighed and stretched a little, heading to the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged, wearing a new pair of boxers and drying his hair with a towel. After puberty finally took hold back in eighth grade, Tim’s muscles had grown considerably. Coupled with his catcher specific workout, Tim was definitely muscled. His shoulders were broad and his arms and legs were thicker than average. His chest was wide with a solid abdomen. With the muscle he had, if he had been any shorter than his six foot height, he’d probably look very weird.  As he finished drying off he pulled a pair of khakis off a hanger and put them on.

“Hey, Dad!” Tim yelled, “What time is it?” He fed a black belt through the pant’s belt loops and pulled some khaki socks on as he awaited a response.

“Daaaaad! The time!” He yelled again, buttoning up a white shirt and tucking it in.

“Eleven-forty! Hurry up! We need to leave in five minutes!” His dad replied sternly.

Tim quickly pulled on a pair of brown loafers and headed to the bathroom, again. He brushed his teeth and grabbed a comb. He ran the comb through his brown, wavy hair. When wet, Tim’s hair barely reached the middle of his forehead. It was short all over, it made it easier for him to put on and take off his catcher’s helmet. When he was finished he leaned towards the mirror and looked at his face, trying to decide if he needed a shave. His skin was tanned from being in the sun all the time and his jaw was slightly wider than most people. The bridge of his nose was fairly straight and his high cheekbones sat just below his hazel eyes. Besides some stubble, Tim was satisfied and headed downstairs.

“Tim we hav-“ his dad started, but was cut short as Tim rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs and headed in to the kitchen.

“I’m right here Dad,” Tim said quickly. Tim grabbed his car keys and walked outside to the new white Corvette his dad had bought him for his birthday. As he started the engine, his dad walked out the front door of their home and locked up. Tim’s mom had died 8 years ago in an accident at a construction site that she was overseeing the design and construction of. Since then, he and his dad always went to church on Sundays. Tim honked the horn briefly and watched as his dad jogged to the passenger seat.

“So,” Tim started as he put the car in reverse, after his dad had finished buckling, “Sonic burgers and shakes afterward again?”

Tim and his father had gotten shakes at Sonic when he was younger to help cheer him up because of the death.

“Don’t we always?” Tim’s father replied, laughing. Tim smiled and nodded as he finished backing out of the driveway. Tim looked down at the time as he began driving forward.

The time was 11:46.

We need to leave sooner next week. Time thought to himself.

A minute or so later and he was pulling out on to the major road by his neighborhood, heading towards the church.

 

 

 

 

 

Amy looked at her watch’s timer as she jogged up to her front door.

“Yes!” She exclaimed to herself, “15 minutes flat! That’s 20 seconds faster than yesterday!”

Amy smiled as she opened the front door and grabbed the towel she had laid out earlier. She enjoyed running in the mornings, it woke her up and gave her energy. On the weekends she would sleep in a little though. Amy wiped the sweat from her face and neck as she walked upstairs to her bedroom and more importantly, her shower. She shut the door behind her and threw her towel over the back of her desk chair and began untying her white running shoes. After taking her shoes and ankle socks off Amy unstrapped the MP3 holster on her arm and threw the device and holster on her bed. She then took her pink Nike tank top and black Nike running shorts off and draped them over the same chair she had laid the towel on, making sure she wouldn’t forget to wash them. Picking up her phone and MP3 she walked into her bathroom and shut the door. As she turned the shower on Amy plugged her MP3 into the stereo she had next to her sink. She set her music to random for all songs and got ready to shower as “California Gurls” started playing.

After a while, Amy opened the door to the bathroom, allowing the steam to flow out. Before long the sound of a hair dryer filled the bathroom along with the music. When it had stopped Amy plugged in her hair straightener and went to her dresser for some underwear while the device warmed itself up for use. Heading back in to the bathroom, she looked at the little LED indicator on the straightener to see if it was hot enough yet.

“Ugh, no flash. I need a faster heating straightener,” Amy mumbled to herself.

With more time to wait Amy went to her closet to get some clothes for the day. As she walked in to her closet she looked around at her shirts, camisoles, and dresses trying to decide what to wear. She quickly dismissed wearing any sort of dress and so pushed them away from the rest of her tops.

“Hmm, what am I feeling like wearing today?” Amy asked herself.

She pulled out a white camisole and a yellow “Miss Sunshine” t-shirt. Looking back and forth at the two she finally replaced the camisole, deciding on the t-shirt. She then walked over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of denim short shorts. Amy pulled the shorts and shirt on as she headed back to the bathroom. Sitting down on the bench in front of the bathroom mirror Amy inspected her hair bleach blonde hair in the mirror.

“Seriously? It’s already curling at the ends,” she sighed as she pulled at one of the curls. She skipped a song on the MP3 and began to straighten her hair as she sang along to The Beatles. A few minutes later there was an exploding sound from her stereo. Jumping at the sudden noise Amy’s hand jerked upwards and she caught her ear with the searing hot straightener.

“S**T! What was that?!” She exclaimed as she dropped the device on the counter. She quickly realized that the music playing was full of screaming and heavy guitars.

“God. D****T! Jeremy!” She cursed loudly, turning the music off. “I hand you my MP3 for five seconds and you download this horrible music!”

Seething, Amy turned the cold water on in her sink and used her hand to run it over the part of her right ear that she burned.

“I’m am sooo going to have Tim kick your a*s for this...” she said through gritted teeth, drying her ear with a towel.

After she finished straightening the last bits of her hair, Amy quickly applied some subtle blush and a light colored lipstick. Still angered by the whole music incident, Amy slipped on a pair of flip-flops, grabbed her phone, purse and sunglasses and proceeded to storm out of her house. Exiting her home she started down the street towards her friend Sara’s house a few blocks away, not neglecting to send Tim a very angry text about Jeremy.

 

 

 

 

 

Tim let out a heavy sigh as he made his way upstairs to his room. As he walked up the stairs he was looking at a text on his phone that he had received about an hour ago during church. Apparently, Jeremy had put some of his music on Amy’s phone as a joke and it had startled her this morning, causing her to burn herself with her straightener.  As he reached his room Tim let out another, smaller sigh and threw his phone on his bed. Stripping off his church clothes, throwing them in a pile, Tim went to his closet and looked for a shirt. He quickly pulled out a red and white striped Abercrombie & Fitch polo. The shirt fit fairly tight on his muscled body, the sleeves stopping about mid-bicep. Grabbing a pair of jeans from his dresser, Tim quickly pulled them on and tucked in his shirt, finishing off with a solid black belt. He then switched his socks to a pair of ankle-high socks and pulled on a pair of brown, worn loafers. When he went to go pick up his phone it went off. Tim picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Jeremy, of course. He hit the talk button and put the phone to his ear.

“Hey Jeremy.” Tim said a bit annoyed. “First, you’re a dumbass. Second, what’s up?” There was a short pause and sounds of movement before a sigh was heard from the phone.

“What did Jeremy go and screw up this time Tim?” Vivienne asked. Tim was a bit startled by a female voice, but dismissed it quickly.

“Long story Vi.” Tim replied. “But that’s beside the point right now. What’s going on with you two today?” Tim asked, taking a lighter tone of speech.

“Ehh, not much,” Vivienne replied, “Jeremy and I went to see Ninja: The Assassin and we just got out. So I grabbed his phone and called you to see if you and Amy wanted to hang out?” Vivienne asked with a hopeful glimmer in her voice.

“Well,” Tim started. ”I’d love to, but Amy is royally pissed off at Jeremy right now.”

“You’ll need to explain that when you get in the car with us.” Vivienne stated cooly. Tim paused for a moment, utterly confused.

“You say that as if you’re positive I’ll be going.” Tim explained, confused still.

“Well, decide quick. We’re outside your house!” Vivienne let out a laugh as she hung up the phone. Tim smiled and sighed as he grabbed his wallet from his khakis and headed downstairs.

“Dad, I’m heading out with Jeremy and Vivienne, ok?” Tim announced as he went to open the door.

“Just be home by ten. You have school tomorrow!” Tim’s father yelled back at him as Tim walked through the door.

“Ok Dad! See you later!” Tim shut the door and jogged over to the black Tahoe in front of him, music spilling from its open windows. Tim leaned on the passenger side window and looked at his two friends, motioning for Jeremy to turn the music down. Once he had done so, Tim opened the door behind Vivienne and hopped in the back seat.

“So Tim,” Jeremy started as his friend closed the door. “What did I do to piss off Amy so much?” Tim sighed and pulled up the text message on his phone.

“Here,” Tim said, handing the phone to Jeremy. “Read this and be prepared for a s**t storm if we’re going to go get her.”

Vivienne leaned closer as Jeremy took the phone and the two sat quietly as they read the text. Suddenly a huge grin appeared on Jeremy’s face and he burst out laughing, tossing the phone back to his friend. Vivienne however, was unamused and gave Jeremy a sharp smack on the head.

“I’m going to hit you for laughing.” Tim announced coldly. Jeremy attempted to stifle his laughter and was able to hold back enough to respond.

“Sorry bro,” Jeremy apologized, a small chuckle escaping. “Didn’t mean to hurt her or anything, just surprise her.” After managing to calm himself, Jeremy let out a sigh and pulled away from Tim’s house. “Alright,” He began, “I’ll apologize when we pick her up. Let her know we’re on our way.” There was a short pause before Jeremy piped up again. “Oh, and tell her Viv wanted to hang out.” Jeremy explained with a small laugh.

“Ya,” Tim replied while he began his text, “I figured that would be best.”

 

Only a few minutes later the three friends pulled up in front of Amy’s home.

“I should probably be the only one who goes to the door.” Tim announced with a slightly nervous quiver in his voice. “And Jeremy, you should turn your music off.”

“Ya ya.” Jeremy waved his hand at his friend nonchalantly. “You need to calm down bro. It’s not like Amy will bite your face or anything.” Jeremy laughed a little and looked at Vivienne. His smirk faded as he looked at his girlfriend’s completely serious face.

“Jeremy, you really pissed her off.” Vivienne looked Jeremy straight in the eyes.

“Tim, wait.” Jeremy said, letting a large sigh out. He turned the car off and pulled the keys from the ignition. “I should probably come with and apologize before anything else.”

The two boys left the car and made their way to the door. Tim rang the door bell, Jeremy waiting directly in front of the door, preparing an apology. The door swung open quickly as a smiling Amy started to make her way out. Seeing Jeremy, she froze.

“And just what the f**k are you doing here Jeremy?” Amy crossed her arms, an angry expression on her face.

“Umm… Well,” Jeremy started, “I just wanted to say I’m really really sorry about the whole ‘putting stuff on your iPod to startle you’ thing. I was stupid to think it was funny.” Jeremy’s eyes shifted around as he scratched the side of his head, eventually coming into eye contact with Amy’s angry glare. “Umm… Yeah…” Jeremy piped up again, “I mean we’d like to hang out with you and all an---“

Jeremy was silenced by a quick, hard slap. Jeremy stood still his mouth open, looking at Amy. “F**k’s sake! Ow!” Jeremy yelled, realizing finally what had happened.

“Well, I feel better!” Amy exclaimed cheerily. “Let’s go!” Amy walked to the car with Tim, smiling.

Jeremy walked behind them rubbing his sore cheek with a constant cringe. As the three friends got in Jeremy’s car, Jeremy turned the A/C on and turned around in his seat to look at everyone else. Tim immediately started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Jeremy asked, looking at Tim.

“Y-y-your face!” Tim managed to stutter out through laughter. Tim pulled his visor mirror down and looked at his sore cheek. Sure enough there was a massive, well defined hand print occupying the entire left side of his face. Jeremy let out a sigh and turned around again, putting the mirror up.

“Ok, hand prints aside, what do you all want to do?” Tim was still laughing and Amy just sat quietly. Finally Vivienne spoke up.

“How about we go that Freddy Fun’s arcade place? They serve food as well.” she asked, looking at the three others.

Tim had finally calmed down enough to think about it. “I’m game if you are Amy.” Tim said, looking at his girlfriend to the right.

Amy looked upwards in thought. “Yeah, I guess that sounds good. I haven’t been in a while.”

“Alright then,” Jeremy began, starting the car and putting it in drive. “Freddy Fun’s it is!”

 

 

 

 

 

“Yeah! Take that you damned zombie!” Jeremy and Tim were engaged in an intense game of “Dead House 3”, Vivienne and Amy sitting behind them with drinks.

“Jeremy! Your right!”

“I got it! I got it! No need to yell in my ear, bro! S**t! A bit too close though.”

“Should we use the grenade?”

“Nah, save it for the boss, man. We’re almost done with this level.”

Amy and Vivienne just stared at the two boys engrossed in their game.

“Yes!” “Win!” Jeremy and Tim holstered their guns and gave each other a big high-five after completing the level. Turning around, the two of them looked at the girls, huge grins on their faces. Amy and Vivienne immediately began laughing, loudly.

“What’s so funny?” Jeremy asked a bit confused.

“J-Just the two o-of---“ Vivienne tried to explain while laughing, unsuccessful.

Taking a few breaths she tried to compose herself enough to talk. Suddenly Amy fell off her chair laughing and Vivienne lost it again. Tim and Jeremy just looked at each other, confused.

“Dorks!” Amy managed to yell through her laughter, attempting to stand back up. After a few deep breaths, she continued. “I mean, I kinda expected that from Jeremy,” A disapproving scowl was given by Jeremy, “But Tim?” She continued, laughing, “I never knew! It’s hilarious!”

The two boys looked at each other and back at their girlfriends, annoyance replacing their confusion. Jeremy pulled out his phone to give himself something else to look at. Pressing the center button on his phone, the backlight illuminated the time. Jeremy’s face went from annoyed to ‘what do I do now?’ in a split second.

“Uhh… Hey guys?” Jeremy said, looking up from his phone. “It’s kind of like 9:21.” Jeremy slid his phone back in to his pocket and looked at the group for a response. Amy took another sip from the drink in her hand and looked back and forth at Tim and Vivienne. Tim and Vivienne both stood frozen, mouths slightly agape, trying to figure out how they’d both get home by 10:00.

Tim spoke up first, “Well, we leave now. And go fast.” The group nodded in agreement and grabbed their stuff, starting towards the door in a jog. Amy exited the building first, emerging in the parking lot. Only about 40 cars were left and as Amy turned to head towards Jeremy’s car she stopped dead in her tracks. Near the car, no more than 50 feet away stood a man under one of the lot’s many lamp posts. Jeremy came next. Surprised by the sudden stop he ran into Amy causing her to drop her drink.

“S**t! Sorry Amy. I didn’t see you stop.” Jeremy apologized profusely, not wanting to anger her anymore today.

“Do you know that man Jeremy?” Amy asked pointing to the lone man in the light.

Jeremy squinted his eyes trying to see if he recognized him. The man’s head hung limply and his body was slouched, unmoving. Jeremy slowly turned his gaze to Tim, motioning with his eyes at the man.

“I don’t recognize him either. Just unlock the car and act normal.” Tim replied to Jeremy’s silent question.

Jeremy nodded and put his arm around Vivienne’s waist. Tim did the same with Amy and the four started towards the car. They stayed as far as they could from the man as they approached the car. Jeremy casually pulled his keys out and unlocked the doors. At the noise of jingling keys the man’s head snapped towards the group.

“Hey, Jeremy.” Vivienne whispered into his ear. “That man just started staring at us. Let’s hurry please.” Jeremy nodded and glanced at the man, his face completely devoid of emotion. Once everyone was in the car and the doors closed Jeremy locked the car and slid the keys in to the ignition. In one movement he started the car and clicked the automatic windows, allowing them to roll themselves down. The man was in the headlights and when Jeremy put the car into drive and began moving he immediately ran full speed at the car, yelling.

“Go Jeremy! Now!” Shouted Tim, Amy and Vivienne all at once.

Jeremy floored it and took off at a turn, missing the man by mere feet.  Accelerating across the parking lot, the car’s tires squealed as Jeremy took a hard turn in to the exit. Amy pulled out her phone, unlocked it and pulled up the phone app. Tim looked over at her and immediately put his hand on the phone, pushing it away.

“Amy, what’re you doing?”

“Calling the cops! What the hell do you think I’m doing? In fact, why hasn’t anyone else called already?” Amy replied, exasperation in her voice.

“Amy,” Tim said, trying to calm her down, “Jeremy almost hit the guy, and he didn’t do anything except run at us. He’s an a*****e, but he didn’t break the law.”

Amy locked her phone after realizing what Tim said. Taking a few breathes she calmed herself down and relaxed the tension in her body.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Amy said apologetically, “I didn’t need to freak out so much.”

The car was fairly silent as Jeremy sped towards Vivienne’s school and home. No one spoke up until Jeremy arrived at his intended destination. Stopping in front of the school, Jeremy looked at the clock and then over to Vivienne.

“9:50 Viv, barely made it.” Vivienne only nodded her head as she gave him a quick kiss and left. Jeremy waited until she had made it inside before he left for Tim’s house. The remainder of the group had just left the parking lot when Tim spoke up.

“So, do either of you know just what the hell happened today?” Tim squeezed Amy’s hand, waiting for a response.

Jeremy replied, “Don’t know, bro. A******s are a******s I guess. I don’t really understand it.”

No one knew what to say after that and silence pervaded the air again. Within six minutes Tim had been dropped off and after Amy and Tim said their goodbyes Amy re-entered the car, sitting in the front passenger seat.  Jeremy started heading towards Amy’s house, silence taking its place again.

Suddenly Jeremy spoke, “Hey Amy,” Amy looked over to Jeremy, startled by his voice, “I really am sorry about my crap prank. I should have thought that through a bit more.” Amy stared at the usually immature boy sitting next to her.

“Jeremy, I really don’t understand how you work. I see a kid one minute and the next you’re the most mature guy I know.” Amy shook her head and let out a chuckle before continuing, “Don’t worry about it.” Jeremy nodded and the two went back to silence.

“But I am baffled and worried about that guy earlier,” Amy said, turning quickly in her seat to face Jeremy, provoking a slight jump from him. “I mean what in God’s name was up with him?”

Jeremy let out a sigh as he composed himself for a reply. “I don’t know. That was seriously whacked in the reality spectrum.” Amy stared at Jeremy for a moment, a confused look on her face.

“Whacked in the where? You make no sense sometimes Jeremy.” Amy rolled her eyes and looked out the window. “S**t Jeremy! Stop! My house!” Amy shouted quickly.

Jeremy hit the brakes and brought the car to a quick halt, only a few yards past Amy’s house. He reversed and brought the car in front of the front door’s walkway.

“Sorry Amy. I was thinking about earlier.” Jeremy apologized, unlocking the car. Amy grabbed her purse and opened the passenger door.

“It’s ok, I missed it too,” she replied with a half-hearted laugh. The two waved goodbye and Jeremy took off back home.

After a minute or so Jeremy’s mind wandered back to the earlier event. What the hell happened today? That was seriously, SERIOUSLY weird as hell. Should I tell my parents? Jeremy thought for a moment, turning on to his street. Nah, they’ll just freak and take my keys. I don’t need to deal with their bullshit right now.

Jeremy pulled into his driveway and rolled the windows of his car up. Getting out Jeremy heard a noise from a bush nearby and jumped. Nervous from the events earlier, Jeremy quickly locked his car and jogged inside, locking the door behind him. He let out a sigh and headed up the stairs in front of him eager to get some sleep. Stripping clothes off on the way up, Jeremy entered his room. He threw the discarded clothing into a pile on the floor and crawled under the covers of his bed.

Author's Note

Ugh... I wrote this back during my junior year of high school. I may rewrite it if anyone enjoys the premise. It honestly hurts to read this now though. Tear it apart and let me know what you think. Thanks!