Confessions of a Teenage Zombie

After a few minutes of silence, I looked over at Ryan. He was staring at the ceiling and smiling crookedly, almost as if he was plotting something evil. He wasn't, since it was Ryan, but dude.

"I'm gonna go see if Brent will accept my eternal forgiveness," I stated. Ryan looked at me, blinking rapidly. "I know what you're thinking, and I'll be discreet in calling his attention."

"Because one thing you are is discreet," Ryan replied. Was that sarcasm I was detecting in his voice? Was Ryan getting comfortable, and dare I say it, happy?

I rolled my eyes and got up, putting on my sunglasses. I ran out of the room, down the stairs, and outside. Brent's house actually wasn't too far away; five blocks at the most. I didn't last long running before I got tired.

I was about as athletic as a koala.

I got to his house, running immediately to the backyard. I grabbed a stone, looking up at his window. I took a step back and chucked it. There was no response, and I wondered if he was even in.

I grabbed another stone and threw it. Still no response.

After the fourth stone, I remembered I had his cell phone number. I chuckled at my own forgetfulness before dialing the number on my own phone. It rang once before he picked up.

"Yes?" He sounded like he was expecting me to call him. He was probably waiting for me to realize what a dick I was. He was nice like that.

"Come outside to the backyard," I said, hoping to sound ominous. I took in a deep breath. "And uh... sorry if your window is ruined."

"Window?" Brent inquired. I stayed silent. He sighed. "Okay, hold on."

He hung up, and I waited. I looked over at the weeping willow his family had in the yard. There was a bench under the tree. Brent and I used to chill out on the bench after school.

Brent came out a couple minutes later. We were sitting on the bench, neither saying anything.

"I'm sorry that I tried pressuring Ryan into talking about an uncomfortable subject." I licked my lips. "I should've left it alone when he said he didn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah." Brent pushed some hair behind his ear.

"I just... I'm just sad about the dead thing. We leave so suddenly, and there are things we wish we said to people, or things we wish we had done," I continued. "And I thought Ryan was sad enough. It's not an excuse, though."

"Sometimes, I guess what's really important is that you tried to do something good," Brent said. "I know that deep down, you wanted to help. But sometimes you have to let people do things in their own time."

"Yeah. I should stay out of someone's business if they don't seem willing to share themselves," I sighed. "So what are you up to, anyway?"

"Not much." Brent rubbed his nose. "Been working on an essay for school. Although for the past hour, I've just been emptying bags of chips. You?"

"Not much. Talked to Ryan. I was going to see a movie with a friend, but he threw up and wasn't feeling well today," I explained. "Really, I'm just trying to find ways to fill up my time. I start feeling itchy when I'm inside for too long."

"Says the guy who stayed in his fort for three weeks," Brent mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"I was thinking deep things. But, you know, me and the indoors just don't get along. I need to be with people, you know?" I yawned. Being outside with the wind blowing was bringing up the smell of brain. I cleared my throat and inched away from Brent. He looked at me.

"You okay?" he asked. I laughed nervously, because what was I gonna say? I wanted to feast on his squishy, delicious brain? That would be awkward, although it would make Brent laugh, because he had a weird sense of humor, the morbid bastard.

"I'm great. Just... you know, getting cold." I nodded. Brent quirked an eyebrow.

"So you move away from a person, which lessens body heat? Sure. Makes total sense." He was being sarcastic. "But on a serious note, that wouldn't be surprising, given that you're dead."

"True enough." I took my phone out and checked the time; it was almost six. "Hey, I should get home for dinner."

"Okay. See you." Brent gave me a side hug. "Tell Ryan I said hi, okay?"

"Okay. Later." I waved and got up. When I was far enough from Brent where I knew he couldn't see me, I started running.

I only made it a few feet before I stopped due to being tired. I had to work out or something, because the inability to run for any set amount of time was embarrassing.

I walked the rest of the way home, finding Ryan in the hallway. He smiled when he saw me and floated over.

"Art had a family emergency," he stated as I closed the door behind me. He frowned. "His mother is pretty sick, so he'll be gone for a few days."

"Oh." It would be weird for Art to be gone for a few days. I mean, he's always here no matter what. That, and he was way better at doing makeup than I was. "Brent says hi."

"Really?" Ryan seemed so happy lately. Did he think people hated him or something? I nodded my head. "He's so nice. I like having friends."

"Yeah." I stared at Ryan. Neither of us said anything, and Ryan would twitch awkwardly every now and again.

"I'm gonna go back in my room and think about... you know, life," he finally said. I arched an eyebrow. "You know, what it means to live after you're dead... or something. Bye."

He turned and went up the stairs.

If he was not one of the oddest, yet fascinating people I had ever met, I didn't know who was.