The Smoky Corridor

55

“Sorry, I was just goofing around,” Zack said for the tenth time.

He, Azalea, and Malik were on the bus, headed home.

“Why did you ask if Bloody Mary was a zombie?” asked Azalea, laughing so hard she had to hold on to her sides. “Was that like even one of the options?”

“I dunno,” said Zack.

“And then,” said Malik, short of breath from giggling, “you kept saying ‘What is your name?’ when, obviously, it was supposed to be Mary!”

Zack went ahead and laughed along with his two friends, who were more or less laughing at him. Hey, it beat explaining what he’d really seen.

Azalea wiped some of the laugh tears out of her eyes, smudging her makeup as she did. “You guys hanging out at Zack’s today?”

“Nah,” said Zack. “We need to do some junk at Malik’s house.”

“Okay. Cool. Have you done your family tree, yet?”

“Oh, yes,” said Malik. “My father and mother helped me last weekend.”

“Yeah,” said Zack, “mine, too.”

The bus came to a stop. “What’s the matter with you guys? Haven’t you ever heard about waiting till the last possible minute to do anything?”

Zack laughed. “You’re doing yours tonight, right?”

“Yep. Because they’re not due until tomorrow. See ya!”