Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (The Russel Middlebrook Series Book 3) by Brent Hartinger Page B
Authors: Brent Hartinger
Ads: Link
me. He uttered something to the guy with him, who said something back, then hurried off into the woods.
What was this? I wondered.
I sprinted across the grass.
When I reached the gazebo, I immediately asked Kevin, "Who was that?" I was out of breath from all that running.
"Huh?" he said. He brushed away an insect.
"That guy I saw you talking to. Who was it? He looked older."
Kevin stared at me hard. "He was older," he said at last. He thought a moment more. "In his twenties. He was hitting on me. I've seen him here before."
I was thoroughly confused. "Kevin, what are you talking about? What do you mean you've 'seen' him here?"
Kevin slouched. "What do you think ?"
Was Kevin saying what it sounded like he was saying? That he'd been out cruising the parks at night?
"Russel, relax," Kevin said. "I haven't done it that many times."
"'That many times'? Are you serious?" I admit it: Kevin was shocking me. We were standing under a gazebo, but The Sound of Music this wasn't. I thought I'd known him. Never in a million years would I have thought that he'd be out in parks at night with guys (other than me, I mean).
Suddenly Kevin was impatient. "Look! What'd you want to see me about?"
"Well, I'm confused," I said. "Last week you were all moony-eyed over me. You came out to the whole school so we could be together. Now you tell me you've been out picking up old guys in parks?"
Kevin shrugged, but it was really more of a squirm. "Well, it's not like we were together then. And it's not like that has anything to do with us anyway. That's just sex."
"Kevin!"
" What ?"
I didn't know what to say. Was it possible that I had misjudged him so thoroughly? Last summer, before I'd gotten together with Otto, I'd fallen in love with a guy at camp who I'd thought was perfect. And he had turned out to be a complete creep.
But Kevin wasn't a creep. Was he? True, I'd known that he was weak—that when push came to shove, he did the easy thing. He'd come out at school, but eight months too late, and probably only to get my attention anyway. And that guy Kevin had been with at the movie shoot? Maybe he hadn't been hitting on Kevin—maybe Kevin had been hitting on him .
"You know," Kevin said, "this is getting to be a real bore. When did you get such a stick up your butt?"
I was speechless. I had been wrong about him, just like I'd been wrong about that guy at camp. Boy, was Kevin weak! He couldn't even wait for me in a park without getting it on with another guy? I suddenly felt like I had with my parents when they'd confronted me about being gay, like he was pulling off a human mask to reveal the true monster underneath.
"So it was all lies?" I said. "When you said you still loved me? You were just messing around?"
He squirmed again, like a man in a straitjacket. "Hey, I'm an athlete. It's a game. And this was one game I wanted to win. I lost the first time around, so I wanted a rematch. I wanted to prove I could win. And I did. I got you to pick me over Otto. But that's all it was. Just a game."
I didn't answer. The truth was, I hadn't picked him. I'd picked Otto. That's what had been so obvious when I'd stared in that mirror at school, when I'd seen the reflection of that zombie glaring back at me. Being a zombie was about being dead, about the past, about a life already lived. Kevin was about the past too. He and I had had our chance, but that moment was gone. We couldn't go back—everything was different now. Being human, being a high school student, that was about the future, about promise, about all the life yet to be lived. It was exactly like Declan McDonnell had said. I didn't have a jeweled dagger like Brad, the hero of the movie, but Declan McDonnell had given me the insight I needed to vanquish the past once and for all. The right choice for me was the guy who represented a new life, and the future—Otto, no matter the difficulties.
I'd come here to tell Kevin that he and I really were over. I'd wanted to tell him
What was this? I wondered.
I sprinted across the grass.
When I reached the gazebo, I immediately asked Kevin, "Who was that?" I was out of breath from all that running.
"Huh?" he said. He brushed away an insect.
"That guy I saw you talking to. Who was it? He looked older."
Kevin stared at me hard. "He was older," he said at last. He thought a moment more. "In his twenties. He was hitting on me. I've seen him here before."
I was thoroughly confused. "Kevin, what are you talking about? What do you mean you've 'seen' him here?"
Kevin slouched. "What do you think ?"
Was Kevin saying what it sounded like he was saying? That he'd been out cruising the parks at night?
"Russel, relax," Kevin said. "I haven't done it that many times."
"'That many times'? Are you serious?" I admit it: Kevin was shocking me. We were standing under a gazebo, but The Sound of Music this wasn't. I thought I'd known him. Never in a million years would I have thought that he'd be out in parks at night with guys (other than me, I mean).
Suddenly Kevin was impatient. "Look! What'd you want to see me about?"
"Well, I'm confused," I said. "Last week you were all moony-eyed over me. You came out to the whole school so we could be together. Now you tell me you've been out picking up old guys in parks?"
Kevin shrugged, but it was really more of a squirm. "Well, it's not like we were together then. And it's not like that has anything to do with us anyway. That's just sex."
"Kevin!"
" What ?"
I didn't know what to say. Was it possible that I had misjudged him so thoroughly? Last summer, before I'd gotten together with Otto, I'd fallen in love with a guy at camp who I'd thought was perfect. And he had turned out to be a complete creep.
But Kevin wasn't a creep. Was he? True, I'd known that he was weak—that when push came to shove, he did the easy thing. He'd come out at school, but eight months too late, and probably only to get my attention anyway. And that guy Kevin had been with at the movie shoot? Maybe he hadn't been hitting on Kevin—maybe Kevin had been hitting on him .
"You know," Kevin said, "this is getting to be a real bore. When did you get such a stick up your butt?"
I was speechless. I had been wrong about him, just like I'd been wrong about that guy at camp. Boy, was Kevin weak! He couldn't even wait for me in a park without getting it on with another guy? I suddenly felt like I had with my parents when they'd confronted me about being gay, like he was pulling off a human mask to reveal the true monster underneath.
"So it was all lies?" I said. "When you said you still loved me? You were just messing around?"
He squirmed again, like a man in a straitjacket. "Hey, I'm an athlete. It's a game. And this was one game I wanted to win. I lost the first time around, so I wanted a rematch. I wanted to prove I could win. And I did. I got you to pick me over Otto. But that's all it was. Just a game."
I didn't answer. The truth was, I hadn't picked him. I'd picked Otto. That's what had been so obvious when I'd stared in that mirror at school, when I'd seen the reflection of that zombie glaring back at me. Being a zombie was about being dead, about the past, about a life already lived. Kevin was about the past too. He and I had had our chance, but that moment was gone. We couldn't go back—everything was different now. Being human, being a high school student, that was about the future, about promise, about all the life yet to be lived. It was exactly like Declan McDonnell had said. I didn't have a jeweled dagger like Brad, the hero of the movie, but Declan McDonnell had given me the insight I needed to vanquish the past once and for all. The right choice for me was the guy who represented a new life, and the future—Otto, no matter the difficulties.
I'd come here to tell Kevin that he and I really were over. I'd wanted to tell him
Similar Books
