by Amanda Ashby
“Actually, it’s about the spell you did yesterday.”
“What?” Mia yelped as she glanced around her to check that none of the other students who were flooding out of the school had heard what he just said. “O-of course I didn’t do a spell. That’s just crazy talk.” She looked at his face to see if he bought her bluff. “W-why would you even say something like that?”
“Because I know a spell was done at Newbury High at the exact time I saw you behind the bleachers at the senior awards assembly yesterday,” he said, and Mia let out a groan. So that would be a “no” for buying her bluff, then.
“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to sound convincing, but Chase just gave her a stubborn glare.
“Look, all I need is the incantation you used.” He folded his arms and Mia shot him an annoyed frown.
“Why? So you can tell the whole school I did a love spell? Besides, it wasn’t really a love spell, because that would imply Rob didn’t like me and he did—er, does. I mean, we had six dates together. It’s just ever since Samantha decided to steal him from me he’s been a bit . . . distracted. So really the spell was just to help jog his memory. A reminder spell, you could say. And it totally worked.” She held up the Ho Hos as proof, and Chase stared blankly at her for a moment before rubbing his chin.
“Okay, the thing is, it doesn’t really matter what sort of spell you think you did, because—”
“It might not matter to you, but it matters to me.” Mia bristled as she thought about her adorable dress that was hanging in her closet in preparation for Friday night. “The whole time I’ve gone to this high school, people have only ever thought of me as the weird quirky girl who can quote too much Buffy. This is my chance to be someone else. Just for one night, so for you to say—”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he apologized as he ran a hand through his short hair. “I just meant that we have a bigger problem on our hands than whether you thought you did a love spell or a reminder spell.”
“Excuse me?” She looked at him blankly, feeling like she was watching a foreign movie without the subtitles because not a lot of his conversation was making sense.
“What you actually did was an ancient ritual called Viral Zombaticus. Unfortunately, there are at least ten different strains of it, which is why I need the specific incantation you used so that I can reverse it.”
“You’re still not making any sense.”
“I’m not doing a very good job of this,” he admitted as he took a deep breath. “But what I’m trying to say is that when you did that spell yesterday, you inadvertently turned everyone who was at the assembly into flesh-eating zombies.”
four
“I’m sorry, but for a moment there I thought you said ‘zom bies.’” Mia scratched her chin and stared at him. She was definitely going to have to cut back on her television viewing, because next she’d be seeing vampires around every corner and thinking that Principal Keegan was a demon (which, actually, wouldn’t be that much of a stretch, considering his beady eyes and fat nose).
“I did say ‘zombies,’ ” Chase clarified without a hint of a smile. Oh, right. Well, at least there was nothing wrong with her hearing, though her brain seemed to be moving a bit slower than normal. She wrinkled her nose and peered around the front of the school to see if there was anyone with a camera, but it was remarkably camera-free. Which meant she still didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“Okay, I don’t get it,” she was finally forced to confess. “Is this some sort of yearbook prank or something? To try and get a photograph of me running away from pretend zombies? Because, to be honest, you don’t strike me as the yearbook type.”
“Mia, this isn’t a joke,” he assured her as he thrust a business card into her hands. “I’m from the Department of Paranormal Containment, and it’s my job to get this zombie virus reversed before it moves into stage two, but to do that I really, really need the incantation you used. So can you please help me out here?”
Mia took the card and studied it for a minute before she handed it back and started to frown.
“You can’t seriously be telling me you work somewhere called the Department of Paranormal Containment. I mean, you’re a high-school senior. And even if there were such a place, do you really expect me to believe they give out business cards with gold font on them? So what’s this really about?”
“Look, I know this is a lot to take in, and if I had more time I’d love to explain it to you, but right now I really am in a rush.”
“So give me the CliffsNotes version.” Mia folded her arms and shot him a stubborn glare.
“Fine,” he relented. “The Department of Paranormal Containment is a government organization that works covertly to deal with anything out of the ordinary. And by that, I mean paranormal. We have agents all over the world who fight everything from demons to banshees. The department’s sole purpose is to keep the balance between good and evil from being disturbed. And unless you let me have that incantation, team evil will definitely be gaining a few points on us.”
“Right.” Mia couldn’t quite hide her incredulity. “So you’re trying to tell me that you work for a secret organization and you need to get rid of all the zombies I created?”
“That is correct,” he deadpanned.
“Well, no offense, but I think you can probably take the afternoon off since, as you can see, we’re a zombie-free school,” Mia replied, looking around the school and parking lot that was quickly emptying out. “Oh, and in case you have any buddies who want to hunt vampires and werewolves, then you can tell them not to bother, either.”
“You do know that vampires and werewolves aren’t real, don’t you?” He raised an eyebrow in her direction.
“Oh, but zombies are? So why can’t I see any?”
“That’s because the virus works in four stages,” he explained in a patient voice, though Mia couldn’t help but notice his fists were clenched. “Stage one lasts about thirty hours and the infected people are relatively harmless, though on the inside the virus is slowly taking over. Stage two is when the skin starts to lose its elasticity, the victims begin to uncontrollably crave meat, and their bodies start to shut down; occasionally, those who are already ill can die of organ failure at this point. Stage two goes on for up to another thirty hours.”
Mia stared at him. He could not be serious. However, he seemed unperturbed by her reaction as he continued.
“When they reach stage three, they fall into a short coma and then move into stage four. It takes about two hours after the coma for the body to fully adjust, but when it does, they will become dead, mindless creatures powered only by rage and their need to feed on living flesh.”
“And let me guess.” Mia raised an eyebrow at him. “If I give you the incantation, you can cure everybody before it gets to stage two and no one will be any the wiser.”
“That is correct.”
“More like convenient, since it means you never have to prove if it’s real or not.”
“It’s real,” Chase said in a tight voice as he glanced at his watch. “And I’m quickly running out of time, so please Mia, can I just have the incantation, because without it we’re all going to be in a lot of trouble. So where is it? Is it in your locker?”
“Oh my God.” Mia widened her eyes at the mention of her locker. “That was you, wasn’t it? You went looking through my locker for it.”
“Of course I didn’t.” Chase looked offended.
“Well it seems like a big coincidence. Don’t tell me Samantha put you up to this. I mean, she looked pretty annoyed before when Rob sat next to me in biology again. Did she ask you to try and find something to blackmail me into breaking up with Rob? Because you know I wouldn’t put it past her. And the zombie business is a nice touch, because everyone knows how much I loved Buffy and Angel.”
“What?” He sounded a bit astounded. “Mia, I’m not trying to blackmail you about anything. I thought I jus
t explained why I need it.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t make any sense.” She folded her arms and tried not to panic, but it would be the final nail in her humiliation coffin if anyone found out what she’d done.
“Look, I’m not trying to be difficult here, I just need the incantation.” Chase paused for a minute and rubbed his chin. “Okay, so how about this. If you give it to me, then I promise not to say a word to anyone. Is it a deal?”
No, Mia wanted to say, definitely not. Especially since she was sure it couldn’t be a good thing to encourage his delusions. But then again, since he already seemed to know about the spell, her best option was to humor him and hope he really was true to his word.
“Fine. So if I give you the incantation, then will you promise never to mention it again? Especially not to Samantha,” she double-checked, and he gave a vigorous nod of his head.
“I promise.” The worry lines around his green eyes seemed to lessen. However, the rest of his words were lost as Mia’s phone beeped.
She glanced at the screen and felt her heartbeat start to quicken. It was a text from Rob. Do u want a lift? She quickly glanced over to the parking lot and caught sight of Rob’s SUV in the far corner. Mia grinned as she quickly reached into her bag, which was only slightly less messy than her locker, and hunted around for the handwritten pages Algeria had given her.
“Here you are.” She thrust them into his hands.
“Thank you, Mia. I really appreciate this. Oh, and by the way, it’s important you keep this conversation to yourself. Do you understand that?”
“You have absolutely no worries there,” she assured him as she tried to stop her heart from pounding in anticipation. Rob really did still like her.
“Oh, and once this is over, if you do need help with that biology test, I don’t mind giving you a hand. It’s my best subject.” Chase coughed and didn’t quite look at her.
“What?” Mia stared at him blankly for a minute before realizing what he was talking about. And why was he looking so uncomfortable? “Oh, right. Actually, I should be okay, but thanks for the offer,” she called out over her shoulder as she hurried across the parking lot to where Rob was waiting for her.
Zombies? She didn’t think so.
“Hey, I didn’t realize you knew that guy. Isn’t he in our biology class?” Rob asked as Mia climbed up into the front seat.
“Oh, yeah. He just wanted some notes,” Mia said, since she had no desire to let him know about the love spell she’d done. Not to mention the fact that while Chase Miller was obviously crazy, if she repeated anything he said, then she might look crazy as well. Right now that wasn’t the look she was going for.
“That’s one of the things I like about you, Mia—you’re always helping other people.” Rob started up the SUV and drove east on Sunset Drive as his nose started to twitch. “Hmmm, have you been eating chicken? It smells good.”
“Chicken?” Mia said in surprise as she sniffed her sleeve, but all she could smell was the fabric softener her mom always used. “No, it’s not me.”
“We must’ve just passed a restaurant.” Rob shrugged before grinning. “Oh, and by the way, did you like my present?”
“You mean the Ho Hos?”
“No, I left you some Twinkies in your locker. I hope you don’t mind. I just saw them and couldn’t stop thinking about you. Oh, and I cleaned up in there, too. It was a bit messy.”
“You cleaned my locker?” Mia said in surprise since . . . well . . . it was sort of odd that he didn’t ask her first. But before she could say anything else, Rob gave her the most adorable grin, and she felt her surprise fade away.
“Yeah, I have this thing about mess. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Cleanliness is next to godliness,” she assured him while making a mental note to sort out her bag when she got home. For a moment she felt a stab of guilt for accusing Chase of doing it, but that feeling didn’t stay long. Besides, the guy was definitely a few french fries short of a Happy Meal if he thought her love spell hadn’t worked, because Rob had given her two cakes and cleaned her locker. He must really like her.
Mia was still beaming ten minutes later after Rob dropped her off with the promise that he would see her tomorrow morning. She waited until his SUV had disappeared up the road before heading toward the front door. As she pushed her key into the lock, her nose twitched at the smell of baking, which was weird since her mom normally didn’t finish work until well after five.
She dumped her school bag and wandered into the kitchen to where Grace was standing over a tray of cupcakes, her blonde hair piled high on her head and her stub nose smudged with flour.
“And now I’ve seen everything.” Mia lifted a surprised eyebrow as she reached over to a bowl of pink icing. However, before she could stick her finger in, Grace batted it away with a wooden spoon.
“It’s not for you,” her sister snapped. “But if you want to make yourself useful, you can go and take the next batch out of the oven.”
“Since when do you bake? Or eat anything that has calories in it?” Mia stared at her sister and tried to figure out if she had walked into a parallel universe. “Besides, what happened to your life-threatening cough?”
“I made a miraculous recovery,” Grace retorted as she stomped over to the oven and opened the door herself. “And since you’re not going to help, can you go away please? I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I don’t think so.” Mia shook her head as she caught sight of at least three dozen iced cupcakes sitting over on the table. “I’m far more interested in what has brought out your inner Martha Stewart. . . . And why do these all have SG in the middle of them?”
“I thought that was obvious.” Grace shrugged her shoulders as she carried the next batch over to the bench. “It’s to help with Samantha’s prom-queen campaign tomorrow.”
“What?” Mia stared at her sister. “You’re helping Samantha Griffin? The girl who tried to steal my prom date and ruin my life?”
“Mia, honestly, I don’t know why you take these things so personally. I told you that you’re breaking the laws of nature by dating Rob in the first place. Besides, this sort of experience will be invaluable for me when I’m running my own prom-queen campaign.”
“You are unbelievable. And what are you going to do with all these if Samantha doesn’t get on the ballot?”
“Oh please, don’t be so ridiculous. Of course she’ll be on there. Samantha is the person guys want to be with and girls want to be.”
“Really, because in my experience all the girls I know want to kill her,” Mia retorted.
“Yes, but your friends are hardly the movers and shakers of Newbury High.” Grace didn’t even bother to look up. “Anyway, if you want someone to blame, then go see Principal Keegan since he was the person who barbarically decided to get rid of the prom court and only let nominees have one day to try and canvass for votes.”
Mia couldn’t even be bothered to respond as she shook her head and left the kitchen. As always, it was completely useless to talk to Grace. Besides, she had her Ho Hos and Rob Ziggerman to think about. Not to mention taking another peek at her dress. Life didn’t really get much better than this.
five
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Candice panted as she came to a halt at Mia’s locker the next morning.
“Sorry, I had to catch the bus, because would you believe the entire car was full of the cupcakes that Grace made to help Samantha with her prom-queen campaign and Mom didn’t have time to make two trips?”
“Grace is helping Samantha?” Candice arched an eyebrow before frowning. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Yeah, and don’t even get me started on the fact that she used my laptop to make up a prom-queen video clip for Samantha’s Facebook page. Unbelievable.”
“Anyway, this will cheer you up,” Candice assured her. “I’ve got some Oreos for you.”
“Why are you giving me cookies?” Mia looked a
t the double packet her friend was holding out to her.
“Because you like them, of course.” Candice shrugged. “Why else?”
“Er, well, I guess that’s as good a reason as any,” she said as she took the packet and opened up her locker. “And . . . Hey! What’s going on?”
“Boy, someone really did tidy up in there,” Candice commented as she leaned over Mia’s shoulder to see what the problem was.
“Actually.” Mia coughed as she stared at the neatly stacked towers of cookies and candy that were now inside it. “I’m talking about why my locker suddenly looks like a bake sale. How are people breaking into it? I’ve really got to get a new combination.”
“Oh, right.” Candice wrinkled her nose. “That is weird. Who would do that?”
“I have no idea. Did I miss a memo or a school announcement?” she demanded.
“Of course not.” Candice shook her red hair just as Samantha came storming toward her with a scowl etched across her face and her shirt cut even lower than the one she’d been wearing yesterday.
“Mia Everett, I want to talk with you.” Samantha came to a halt and put her hands on her hips in an exaggerated pose, while ignoring Candice altogether. “I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, but it won’t work.”
“I’m not playing at anything,” Mia said brusquely. “Rob asked me to the prom first. Why is that so hard to accept?”
“I’m not talking about Rob.” Samantha rolled her mascara-coated eyes in disdain, and Mia blinked.
“You’re not?”
“I just came from the office where these were printed so they could be handed out this morning. I want you to explain yourself,” Samantha demanded as she pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and thrust it in Mia’s face.
“It’s a ballot.” Mia shrugged. “And I’m guessing it’s for the senior prom king and queen. But you know, Samantha, if you’re canvassing for votes, here’s a tip; it might be a good idea to try the nice approach. I mean, giving out free cupcakes can only get you so far.”
