Confessions of a Teenage Zombie

I dialed Alex's number, which rang and rang until someone finally picked up.

"Deleon residence." Unless Alex's voice drastically changed, I could assume this was his mother, mostly because it was a female's voice.

"Um, hi, I'm a friend of Alex's. Is he home?" I inquired. I had no idea where he lived, so I hoped he was home. "Uh... My name's Brendon."

"Oh, yes! He mentioned he had made a new friend named Brendon!" She sounded so happy. Like, I understand moms being cool with their kids making friends and all, but it reminded me of how a preschooler's mother would act if their kid had just gotten a new friend.

Maybe because I could help get him outside more. That made me kind of sad. Damn, this day is getting increasingly sad.

"Brendon?" It was Alex. I must've been so deep in my thoughts, I didn't even realize his mother had given him the phone. "It's only been twenty minutes, dude. You miss me that much?"

"Well, I mean, there's still some time before dinner, so why not call?" I hopped on my bed and rolled until I was on my back, my head dangling off of the side. "And, you know, I thought we could hang out tomorrow or something. Maybe get some lunch and see a movie or something."

"I've got school." He sounded bummed out. Well, I'd be bummed out too if I couldn't hang out with someone as awesome as myself. "Maybe we can see something afterwards?"

"Okay. Let's meet at the local theatre then," I said.

"Okay. Cool." There was a pause, and some talking in the background. "I have to go. It's dinner time."

"But you ate a butt load of pizza," I stated. Alex shushed me. "Oh, right. Okay, my bad. Forgot. So, I'll see you tomorrow, then. Later!"

"Bye." Alex laughed and hung up.

The next day, I basically stayed in my room, save for some make-up time, until three o' clock rolled around. I didn't want to leave the room and risk encountering Ryan. I wasn't ready to figure out his problems, nor did I even really want to know them. I knew why he was mad at me; I got it was all me last night when I was attempting to fall asleep last night.

Still, I'd think Ryan would want some form of update about his best friend.

I got dressed quickly. A black t-shirt and jeans; nothing flashy. I ran out the door and down the stairs, nearly falling down the last step. I slipped into my shoes before walking out the door casually.

The theatre wasn't too far away; ten minutes tops. I figured we could go see Shutter Island or something, although that might be too scary for Alex. I honestly didn't take him for a suspense movie type of person.

I got there in four minutes, mainly because I'd go from walking to running, then back again several times. I was overly excited about getting new friends, and I really had to calm down. Plus, I wasn't good at running, and I didn't want to work up a horrible sweat that would smear my concealer.

I looked around. There was no chance Alex would be here yet; school had probably just let out. I sat down on a bench a few feet away to wait.

Forty minutes later, and still no sign of him. I went inside; maybe I missed him or something. No sign of him. I walked back outside. Maybe he got caught up in something, or he got detention.

I took my phone out of the pocket of my jeans. I thought about calling him, but if he was in detention, it would be useless. Maybe he just changed his mind and didn't want to tell me. I sighed, and realized I seemed desperate and slightly clingy. That was not me.

My cell phone went off. Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was Alex's phone number.

"Hello?" I greeted.

"It's me." It was barely louder than a whisper, but I knew it was Alex. I blinked, wondering why he was being so quiet. "I'm really sorry I'm not there. I got really sick last night, and I felt like shit when I woke up. I fell asleep, and just woke up, realizing I never called to tell you I couldn't make it."

It explained the whispering; his throat was in so much pain from vomiting. No doubt that having so much pizza and then dinner was just too much for his tiny little stomach.

"Are you okay?" I inquired. I sat down on the bench.

"I'll be okay. I've been in bed drinking water. It's all that I feel my stomach can handle," Alex whispered. I felt really bad, and I wanted to do something to help him. "I really am sorry."

"It's fine. We'll catch a movie another time," I stated. I looked at the sky, trying to think. "Tomorrow's Saturday, right? How about we try this again tomorrow? Maybe meet around noon."

"Okay." He sounded happy. At least, as happy as one can sound when their voice is raspy and low.

"Cool. Okay, so feel better, and get tons of sleep." I smiled and laughed before hanging up. It was possibly a bit rude, not saying farewell, but I don't think I liked saying goodbye anyway. It was never really permanent, as it wasn't a final goodbye. Granted, I still said it, but I thought of maybe stopping.

I got up from the bench, turning to walk away. I bumped into someone. I looked up, immediately being greeted by blue eyes. It was Spencer. I bit my lip and looked around. I was a little curious about Ryan and Spencer's relationship myself, and I knew Ryan wasn't going to talk to me for awhile.

"Hello!" I greeted. He smiled, and I swear the sun got brighter. It was one of those kinds of feelings I had, like if this guy cried, the world cried.

"Hi," he replied. Neither of us mentioned the fact that I had bumped into him, and that was okay. I licked the corner of my lip, trying to think of a way to bring up Ryan without seeming creepy or weird.

"Hey... you know Ryan Ross, right?" I wouldn't have known Ryan's last name if he hadn't had me get his photo album. It was written inside of his book. Spencer blinked. "I kind of know him a bit. He talked about you, and showed me some pictures of you guys."

"Really?" Spencer sounded sad, and I regretted bringing it up in the first place. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone walking up to us. I turned my head fully, seeing it was Blake. I took a pair of sunglasses out of my hoodie pocket and slipped them on.

"I'm late." Blake had made it over to us. He looked over at me, an eyebrow arched. It wasn't sunny out; it was actually pretty cloudy. I coughed.

"New sunglasses. Wanted to try them out," I stated. Blake cocked his head and blinked twice. I looked at Spencer. "I guess we'll finish this some other time?"

"Yeah." Spencer nodded his head. I smiled and walked off.

I went back home, feeling slightly disappointed. I was really hoping Alex and I could get together and hang out; enjoy ourselves.

Tomorrow was another day, though. It would be okay.