Before I could take any kind of action, like trying to chop off Rush’s head, he cleared his throat. I was taken aback. Generally, the undead aren’t big communicators. Or so I’ve heard.
My mom looked over, and I could tell she knew something was up. She put down the plate she was washing. “Rush, what is it?”
I opened my mouth to tell her to keep her distance, but Rush started talking. I could accept a zombie clearing his throat, but talking was entirely out of character. Which meant I’d jumped the gun, and Rush probably wasn’t undead after all.
What Rush said, while my mind was still filled with thoughts of zombieism, was, “Lizzie Lovett is missing.”
I was disappointed. My zombie fantasy was ripped away for Lizzie Lovett of all people. I’d never been a member of the Lizzie Lovett fan club and didn’t have much interest in her whereabouts. Not to mention, if my brother really had turned into a zombie, my boring life would’ve become way more exciting. Also, it would have probably gotten me out of school.
My mom said, “She’s missing?”
Rush looked like he might cry. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. He sighed and slumped into the seat across from me. My mom left the sink and joined us at the table. We were almost like a normal family having a normal breakfast. Almost.
“Are you really having an episode over a girl you haven’t talked to in years?” I asked.
My mom gave me an unamused look, then turned to my brother with concern. “What happened, Rush?”
I could feel my chances of skipping school diminishing. But seriously, I was pretty sure Rush and Lizzie hadn’t seen each other since their graduation.
“Whatever happened, I’m sure she’s fine,” I said. “This is Lizzie Lovett we’re talking about.”
Rush ignored me. He pulled his phone from his pocket and read my mom the texts he’d gotten from one of the guys who’d been on the football team with him, Kyle something-or-other. Kyle something-or-other used to date Lizzie, which he figured was why Lizzie’s mom called him, even though they’d broken up three years ago, right after their senior year. But Kyle guessed Lizzie’s mom must be calling everyone she’d been close to, just in case. So she called and asked if he’d randomly heard from Lizzie, and of course, Kyle hadn’t, because that would be weird, and she said to let her know if he did, and Kyle said OK and blah, blah, blah.
And that’s how I found out Lizzie Lovett disappeared before it was even on the news.
“But missing from where, Rush?” my mom asked.
While Rush was taking eight million years to answer the question, my mind wandered back to zombies. I enjoyed the thought of my brother as a zombie. I quite frankly found it preferable to his actual personality. That probably meant something was very wrong with our sibling bond.
Rush was scrolling through his text messages and still hadn’t answered the question, which was kind of annoying, because I was actually a little curious, which was even more annoying. I kicked him under the table. “Seriously. Are you going to tell us what happened or not?”
Rush put his phone down and glared at me. “I don’t know details, OK? Lizzie and her boyfriend were camping, and this morning, he woke up, and she was gone.”
Silence descended on the kitchen. I decided to say what all of us were certainly thinking. “Probably the most incredible part of the story is that Lizzie Lovett went camping.”
My mom and Rush looked at me like I’d just admitted to bombing a kindergarten, and I realized, possibly, we hadn’t all been thinking that same thing.
My mom reached across the table and took my hand. “Hawthorn, I really wish you’d find more compassionate ways to express yourself.”
I was going to explain that I wasn’t trying to be a jerk. I just didn’t believe anything bad could really happen to a girl like Lizzie. That’s not how her life worked.
But before I could respond, Rush asked, “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
Traitor.
“About that.” I smiled sweetly at my mom. “I was thinking I should probably stay home today.”
“Were you?”
Lizzie going missing had given me a much better excuse than just being sick. “Yeah. To, you know, comfort Rush.”
“Hawthorn, go to school.”
“Seriously?”
Mom’s expression told me she was quite serious. Like she might try to murder me if I made any attempt to resist. Which doesn’t mean I didn’t consider resisting, because I did. I knew it was pointless though.
I stood up but didn’t move toward the door. Rush was staring at his phone like he was willing it to ring. As dumb as it seemed to me, he was really worried.
I sort of felt like I should hug him. Maybe tell him I was only messing around, and I was sorry Lizzie was missing, and I was sorry it made him sad.
But then I imagined Rush rolling his eyes and pushing me away and me slinking off to school, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world.
So instead, I grabbed my backpack and left my mom and brother sitting at the kitchen table talking quietly. About poor Lizzie Lovett, no doubt.
Chapter 2