by Amanda Ashby
“Mia, do you have a minute?” Samantha asked as she fiddled with the top of the microscope.
“Why?” Mia narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
“Because I think I owe you an apology for yesterday,” Samantha admitted.
“You know I’m not going to vote for you, right?” Mia double-checked, and Samantha nodded.
“Seriously, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. Is that okay?”
“Fine.” Mia let out a reluctant sigh. Candice was already farther up the hallway, but since her walking had slowed to a snail’s pace, Mia figured she could just catch up to her. She followed Samantha back into the lab and folded her arms as the wannabe prom queen continued to collect the microscopes. “So what’s this about?”
“I just wanted to say that after speaking to my mom last night, I realize I was a little bit hasty in blaming you just because people seem to like you.”
“Well, that’s very big of you.” Mia shrugged as she looked at her watch. “And if that’s all, I’ve got to go.”
“Me, too.” Samantha frowned as she picked up a couple more microscopes. “Actually, would you mind giving me a hand to put these away? I’m really nervous about my speech, and I think I need to run through it one more time.”
“Well, I really need to—”
“Fine. Grace told me that you wouldn’t want to accept an olive branch. I guess I should’ve listened to her.”
“Oh, did she?” Mia bristled as she dumped her bag on the chair and grabbed the remaining microscopes before marching toward the supply closet at the back of the room. It was a huge walk-in closet with a security lock and steel doors, supposedly designed to guard against unauthorized access to expensive equipment and dangerous chemicals, but privately Mia thought it was more to keep out the smell of years of accidental spills. She wrinkled her nose as she flicked on the outside light switch and stepped in to put the microscopes on the shelf at the back. Grace was just so freaking unbelievable, because—
BANG!
“Hey!” she yelped in surprise as a loud noise went off from somewhere behind her, but as she spun around she realized it was just the closet door swinging shut. All this zombie business was making her far too jumpy. Soon she would become just as paranoid as Chase.
“Sorry about that,” she started to call out as she twisted the handle. “I thought it was . . . Okay, so why can’t I open this door?”
“That would be because I locked it,” Samantha said in a cheerful voice from the other side just as there was a clicking noise and the space went pitch-black.
“You locked it?” Mia still didn’t quite understand what was going on. “But why?”
“Because I’m about to give the most amazing speech ever, and I have no desire to have you try and overshadow me. You’ve already turned Rob against me—I’m not going to let you turn the whole senior class against me, too.”
“Are you insane? You can’t leave me locked in here.” Mia used her shoulder to try and get the door to open. It didn’t work.
“Of course I can. I did warn you not to take me on. That tiara is mine, and I’m not letting you get in my way. Oh, but don’t worry. I’ve put some nice snacks in there for you—some leftover cupcakes and a Snickers bar—so make sure you don’t forget to eat them.”
If they were face-to-face, Mia would be staring at her in disbelief, but as it was she was left to stare into the darkness instead. She started to bang on the door again.
“Samantha Griffin, you let me out this instant. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s not about being prom queen—I just really need to get out of here. There’s something important I need to do.”
“I don’t think so. The only important thing you need to do is learn your place, and since there is no class in here next period, I don’t like your chances of getting out. Oh, well—see you at prom, loser.”
Mia gave the door a couple more thumps but it was obvious by the silence that Samantha had left. She tried to glance around the closet, but since it was pitch-black, this was easier said than done. Had she mentioned that this sucked? Especially since, without her at the senior assembly to do the chanting, the reversal spell wouldn’t work. And in turn she would be trapped in this closet until all the zombies came to eat her.
eleven
Fifteen minutes later, Mia’s panic had turned into a full-blown breakdown. She closed her eyes and mentally tried to let Chase know where she was, but she had a feeling that her zombie-queen powers didn’t exactly extend much past feeding the hordes of newly formed living dead. And, unless she got out of here quickly, that’s exactly what would happen. Of course, the alternative was that Chase gassed everyone to death and that scenario left her feeling just as ill.
Mia gulped as she started to tug at the door handle again. Think, Mia. Think.
Perhaps she could dig a hole under the floor? Or through the wall? That might work. Ooh . . . or she could search the shelves and see if there was any equipment to explode the door. Of course the fact she didn’t know how to really do this was a slight hindrance to that plan.
She was trying to decide which option was most feasible, when there was a ringing noise from deep in her pocket. For a moment she just stared blankly into the darkness before realizing it was her cell phone.
Okay, so calling someone was slightly more realistic than hole digging or creating an explosion and would have definitely been next on her list had she thought of it. She quickly yanked her cell phone out of her jeans and felt a huge surge of relief run through her when she saw it was Chase.
“Mia, where are you?” he said in a low, urgent voice. “The assembly has started, and I really think we need to do this soon, because stage three isn’t far away.”
“Samantha locked me in the supply closet after biology, and I can’t get out. I don’t know if it’s because of the virus or because she just really wants to be prom queen, but either way, I’m stuck in here.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I forgot I had my cell phone on me. Chase, I’m really freaked out. What if this doesn’t work? What if we don’t have enough time to do the reversal before the assembly ends? I mean, will they all go into their zombie nap and then—”
“Mia. Calm down. I’m on my way. We still have time but you need to relax. Take a deep breath.”
“I can’t believe you do this as your job.” Mia took a deep breath and tried to gather her frayed nerves. “This is real. It’s really, really real, and—”
“Okay, you might want to take a second deep breath,” he added. “Right now, I’m in the biology lab and I’m on the other side of the door. You can put your phone away.”
“You are?” Mia automatically shoved her cell phone back into her pocket and put her hand up to touch the heavy steel plate. On the other side she could hear Chase fiddling with the lock and her breathing started to return to normal. One more second and she would be—
“Er, Mia . . . ” Chase called out from the other side.
“What? Please just open up the door. Please, Chase.” She felt her hand start to shake.
“I promise it’s going to be okay. It’s just that Samantha’s used a padlock and a chain on this. Actually, I’m not even sure how she managed to lock it with her limited motor skills. Not to mention where she got it from. I’d have to say that she pre-planned it.”
“Who cares how she did it, can you just undo it? Oh, and can you turn on the light?” The light instantly came on and Mia felt some of her panic subside. “Thank you. So what are we going to do?”
“Can you see any way out—a vent or an air duct? Anything?”
Mia looked around. “I see an air vent up above the top shelf.”
“Okay. I need you to climb up, Mia. There is a vent outside this door and I’m sure they are both connected. If you can climb up there and through the shaft you can get back into the biology lab. It should only take a couple of minutes, and then we can go and do the reversal spell.”
Mia’s pani
c returned as she looked up at the ceiling, which seemed to be about a hundred feet off the ground. “Okay, the thing is, we might have a bit of a problem.” She gulped. On account of her fear of heights, there was absolutely no way in a million years she was going to be able to climb up there. She didn’t care how many zombies might come along and try to eat her. She and heights were a bad match.
“What?” Chase said from the other side of the door. “Don’t tell me the vent isn’t there?”
“Oh, it’s there all right.” She inched as far away from it as possible. “It’s just . . . I’m scared of heights.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m sorry, Chase. I can’t climb up there, but I did have another idea of how to get out of here. How are you with explosives?”
She was pretty sure she heard Chase use a few choice swear words before finally saying, “Mia, don’t move, I’m just going to get something to cut through the chain. I won’t be long.”
“Okay.” She gulped, and what seemed like only moments later, she could hear Chase doing something on the other side of the heavy steel door.
“I’ve got a Bunsen burner, so I’ll use it to burn through the chain,” he told her. “The butane gas might smell, but it can’t be helped.”
“Thanks, and Chase, I’m sorry about the heights thing.”
“We all have things that freak us out,” he merely said, and Mia marveled at his patience.
“Still, it’s really nice of you not to get pissed off. Especially considering this whole thing is my fault. It’s because I’m too obsessive.”
“What do you mean?” Even though she couldn’t see him, she could almost picture his eyebrows rising up in curiosity.
“What sort of normal person goes and buys a love spell just because she doesn’t want to get dumped before the prom?”
“Okay, so perhaps you’re slightly obsessive, but no one’s perfect. I worked on one case where I hid in a Starbucks restroom for three hours because I thought one of the employees was in stage two,” he said.
“And were they?” Mia sniffed, holding her hands up to the door as if it might somehow help him.
“No.”
She felt her mouth start to twitch with amusement, and she forced herself to clamp her lips together. “I shouldn’t laugh, because sitting in a restroom for three hours is so not funny. In fact, if Candice were here, she’d probably tell you just how many diseases you could catch in there. Besides, I’m still more obsessive than you. I write lists of things I’ve done, just so I can cross them all off.”
“I write lists and then destroy them in case they fall into the wrong hands,” Chase informed her. “And if Rob wanted to go off with someone else, you should’ve just let him because it obviously means he’s not the right guy for you.”
“Shows how much you know about guys.”
“You’d be surprised,” Chase retorted, and Mia blushed despite the fact he couldn’t see her.
“What I mean is that you’re from the East Coast, so it’s probably different over there.”
“Trust me, testosterone is a universal thing,” he said in a dry voice.
“Well, that might be right, but all I know is that guys like Rob don’t normally want to date girls like me. In fact, no guys want to date girls like me. They all want a Grace or a Samantha.” She sighed.
“So why do girls like you want to date guys like that anyway?”
“What?” Mia stared blankly at the door for a minute. “What does that mean?”
“Sorry, it’s none of my business, but it just sounds like you said yes to Rob because he asked you, rather than because he was someone you really liked.”
“Of course I didn’t—” she started to protest, but before she could figure out just what it was that she did like about Rob, the door swung open to reveal Chase standing in front of her with a Bunsen burner in his left hand. Talk about a sight for sore eyes—and for one moment, Mia had the most ridiculous urge to hug him. After all, if it was Candice who had rescued her, she would’ve given her friend a hug. But then again, Chase wasn’t exactly her friend—he was just the guy who had the crappy job of helping her fix the terrible mistake she had made. Helping her was just part of a day’s work for him.
“Are you okay?” he checked.
“I’m fine.” She collected her scattered emotions and stepped back into the biology lab as if she got locked in supply closets all the time. “So do we still have time to do this?”
“If we hurry. We’re going to have to be careful getting back in the gym, though. Thankfully when I came out, Rob was just giving his speech about erasing carbon footprints. I’m not sure he knew what it meant, though, because he kept referring to keeping the sidewalks clean.”
“Oh, no.” Mia tried her best not to laugh. “Besides, he’s very nice and sweet.”
“So is my dog.” Chase shrugged as they hurried down the hallway back toward the gym. They paused for a moment when they reached the double doors and peered in through the glass to where Samantha was up at the podium, passionately waving her arms in the air. Mia was just about to nudge the door open when someone at the back of the crowd turned and stared directly at her. A moment later, someone else did exactly the same thing, and then, before she knew it, the entire assembly had turned and was looking in her direction.
“W-what’s going on?” Mia ducked and found herself instinctively clutching at Chase’s arm.
“Crap,” he muttered in a low voice. “I forgot to take into account that you’re like a magnet for them—that’s why they knew you were here. I guess the steel on the biology door stopped them from finding you in there.”
Mia groaned. “Well, it’s going to make chanting a little hard if they’re all looking at me.”
“Actually, I think that’s the least of our problems,” Chase said as Mr. Haves hurried over and opened the door.
“Samantha, your time is up,” he shouted before turning and beaming at Mia. Ew, did he just try and sniff her arm? She realized that her water bottle was still in her bag, sitting on the bench in the biology lab. “Mia, there you are. Just in time for your speech.”
“Actually, I’m not really sure about doing a speech,” Mia tried to tell him, but the biology teacher didn’t seem to hear her.
“Whatever you say, make it quick,” Chase said in a low voice as Mr. Haves urged Mia forward onto the podium. “I’ll be waiting for you behind the bleachers.”
The minute she was up there, everyone jumped to their feet and started to cheer. She stepped up to the microphone as she caught sight of Chase and Candice, who were now in position and nodding for her to get there as soon as she could. She glanced at her watch. There was only another ten minutes before the assembly finished, which meant it was now or never. In the front row where the other nominees were sitting, Rob was giving her an encouraging smile and the thumbs-up sign.
“Don’t be scared,” he mouthed at her. “Just talk about that footprint thing. They’ll eat it up.”
Not exactly something she wanted to experience.
Mia gulped as she stood up at the podium and looked around her. Never in a million years did she think she would be standing up here. Never in three million years did she think she would be standing up here because she’d turned her entire class into mindless zombies. Who, she now noticed, seemed to be edging their way closer to the podium, their arms flailing at their sides and drool running down their faces.
Not good.
“Stop,” Mia yelled out to them all, and was relieved when everyone came to a halt and looked up at her expectantly. “Look, I know you think you want to be near me, but really you don’t. You’ve got to all try and think for yourselves. Do you hear me? Think for yourselves,” she pleaded before jumping down off the stage and scrambling over to the bleachers where Candice and Chase were waiting for her. Behind her was the slow shuffle of feet, which let her know that they had kind of missed the point of her speech.
“God, that was so beautiful.” Cand
ice sniffed, and Mia looked at Chase in alarm.
“We need to do this now, don’t we?” she whispered as she rubbed her brow and wished she had a do-over day. Actually two do-over days would be better, then not only would she not do the spell but she wouldn’t say yes when Rob asked her out and she could simply go back to being the girl in Fringeland who was waiting for her life to get better once college started.
“Definitely,” he agreed as he handed her the incantation. “You just need to do it exactly like you did the first time. Except at the end you need to read out the words I’ve added. That will reverse it. Okay?”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath as she carefully stepped over the circle of sand into the middle where Chase had poured the mixture into the same wooden bowl they’d used last time. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. It smelled exactly the same, too. That had to be a good thing, right? All the same, she felt her hands start to shake, but as she looked into Chase’s calm face, her terror faded.
She began to chant. By the time she got to the second page, her leg was tingling and the mixture swirled with smoke until finally she reached the end.
“Take away this curse. With this spell, I reverse,” she called out before she opened her eyes and looked around her. The moment she got to her feet, Chase leaned over and helped her step out, his lean strong arms instantly reassuring as they clasped tight around her waist. She glanced around to where groups of seniors, who only minutes ago had been shuffling toward her, were now scratching their heads and looking confused.
“Did I tell you this assembly was finished?” Principal Keegan called out from somewhere behind them, and the seniors all spun around. “Because it’s not. Get back here right now. We still need to discuss the ballots. I want them all handed in by the end of today. And don’t forget classes end at lunchtime tomorrow so the prom committee can prepare for tomorrow night.”
“So, do you think it’s worked?” She watched as everyone started to wander back to the main part of the gym, not even giving her a backward glance.
