Chapter Twelve: De-Contamination

***

The high school was silent, with no janitor, no senior students sneaking in to peer at their grades and change them, no other students burning the midnight oil in their extracurricular clubs.

And no undead killers, roaming the halls for Sam and those of them who had her blood on them, giving them time for their plan.

But first, they had to get rid of Sam's blood on them, wash it off their skin—and get new clothes.

Which was how the lost and found tub came into play, the tub that Simon had found and brought to them where they were waiting at the bathrooms.

They attacked it, grabbing clothes out of it left and right to replace their tainted ones, Josh saying as they did, "Alright, we have to decontaminate. You can't have any of Sam's blood on you."

Sam, who'd remained standing, said bitterly, "Well, not much I can do about that."

She walked away as Deena watched her go. Alisha nudged her twin, giving her a look telling her to go after Sam. Deena gave her a grateful look and stood up, heading after Sam as Josh called after her, "Deena, you have to get clean too! Not a single drop, okay?"

"Think she knows that, man," Adam said as they now stood up, replacement clothes in hand and turning to the bathrooms.

"Rub-a-dub-dub time!" Simon declared as he headed into the boys' bathroom, Zack, Adam and Josh right behind him as Sloane walked into the girls'. Alisha and Leah were about to follow her when her best friend looked back at Kate and asked, "You okay, Kate?"

"Yeah. Just glad I'm not gonna be alone in there," Kate said, looking around the school. Still no sign of the killers.

"Same," Leah murmured, eyeing the hallways too. She took Kate's hand, holding it. "At least we're together."

A small smile flickered on Kate's face. "Yeah."

She squeezed her sister's hand before Leah let go and headed in. Kate followed after her sister, before pausing and looking at Alisha. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine for having undead killers after my sister's ex," Alisha answered, grinning wanly.

Kate looked at her, something in her eyes, before she entered the bathroom. Alisha followed her in, seeing Kate go into a stall, another closed with clothes thrown over it—Leah. At the sink was Sloane, stripped to her underwear, thoroughly washing the blood she'd gotten on her from patching up Sam's wound away, her clothes next to her on another sink, along with her bag. Her boots were next to her, water shining on them from where the blood had been cleaned away.

"Oh! Hey, Alisha," Sloane greeted. She jerked with her head to the only remaining stall. "You can head into that one. I'll just change out here."

"Thanks, Sloane," Alisha replied, stepping into the stall, throwing the clothes she'd chosen over the stall wall. Inside, Alisha took off her jeans, short-sleeved Smashing Pumpkins shirt and striped long-sleeved shirt underneath, leaving her in her underwear. Tossing her clothes over the stall door, Alisha scrutinised her body, trying too see any sign of Sam's blood on her body, running a hand through her curls, peering at them for red staining them.

"Hey, Alisha, your brother's plan... do you think it's going to work?" Kate asked.

"I do," Alisha said, having full trust in her brother. 

"I mean, it has to. What other options do we have left if it doesn't work? If it doesn't, then we're all dead," Leah pointed out.

Sloane laughed. "And here I thought I'd be the morbid one."

"You can still keep the position, Sloane. I'll gladly hand it back to you," Leah told her, inciting a round of laughter from them both.

Alisha smiled, enjoying this moment of camaraderie before everything that would happen, between the four girls, even though they were stripping and thoroughly checking and washing themselves of Sam's blood.

A lapse in silence before Sloane asked, "Hey, can someone see my back? Just in case I missed something?"

"I can do that," Leah offered, as a creak of a stall door opening sounded before Leah stepped out. "Could you check mine, too?"

"Sure," Sloane replied.

As they checked each other, Alisha looked over herself, seeing no sign of blood, and grabbed for the first bit of clothes before she heard Kate ask, "Alisha? Can you help me?"

Alisha froze, her heartbeat thumping inside her chest louder and faster than usual.

"Uh, sure," Alisha said, trying to control her heartbeat. Pulling the item she held down and stepping into it—a pair of flared jeans—Alisha walked out, seeing Sloane check over Leah for any blood, before opening the door to Kate's stall, closing it, and froze.

Inside was Kate, and she was still in her underwear. The sight of it made Alisha's brain short-circuit, staring at Kate, at how gorgeous she looked even in a grimy school bathroom stall. That she was so beautiful.

"Make sure my back is clean," Kate requested.

"Yeah," Alisha mumbled, dropping her eyes down. What was she doing, ogling Kate when she should be checking her over for any blood?

"Alisha?" Kate prompted. "You're gonna have to look at me."

Alisha looked up, into Kate's eyes. They were so close, close enough to touch. To kiss.

Alisha swallowed as Kate turned around, exposing her back. Alisha reached up, brushing Kate's hair away–it was so soft—looking at the planes of Kate's back, her smooth olive skin clear of blood. She wondered what would happen if she trailed a finger down that smooth, soft-looking skin.

"Okay, I think you're all good," Alisha breathed, throat hoarse as she stepped away, trying to control her thoughts as Kate turned around. Alisha moved her hair aside, showing Kate her back. "Can you check me too?"

Kate looked at her back, the burn of her eyes setting Alisha's cheeks aflame, her heart pounding against the bones of her chest.

"You're clean," Kate told her, her voice husky.

Alisha let her hair fall back, turning to Kate. They stared at each other, Alisha taller than Kate, so close together. The stall was tiny, after all—and yet, neither of them moved apart.

"Alisha," Kate murmured.

"Kate," Alisha whispered.

Kate stepped closer, looking at Alisha as she held her shoulders. She raised up on her feet, head tilted up to her.

Alisha closed the gap, her mouth meeting Kate's.

They pulled apart, staring at each other, the kiss lingering in the space between them, the physical confession of how they felt, as Alisha breathed, "I've always wanted to do that, but I've been too—"

"Scared," Kate finished, her own confession. She looked at Alisha, as if drinking in the sight of her, every detail of her.

Alisha brushed a strand of her hair away, mesmerised by Kate, as she whispered, "But with tonight, if anything happens, if tonight..."

"I know," Kate murmured. "I didn't want to die regretting not saying anything. Not doing that."

They stared at each other, before Alisha asked, "Want to do that again?"

Kate's response was to slam her mouth against Alisha's, and Alisha reciprocated, returning the kiss, holding Kate's waist as she gripped Alisha's shoulders, pulling each other closer, pushing Kate against the stall wall, barely avoiding the toilet. They were in a bathroom stall, undead killers after them, but neither Alisha or Kate cared, because this felt perfect—more than perfect.

It felt right. It felt like Finally.

And as Alisha kissed Kate, hands moving over her skin, feeling supple muscles from years of cheerleading, she wondered why she was ever scared, of confessing how she really felt to Kate. Not when the result of it, not when each kiss from Kate, felt like pure euphoria.

She wanted to keep kissing Kate, to remain in this state of euphoria.

To remain this blissfully happy forever.

But it couldn't last, the need to breathe and the reasons why they were in this bathroom stall, in the high school, crashing down upon them as they pulled apart and Kate said, "We... we should get dressed."

"Yeah," Alisha murmured. She looked at Kate. "Kiss when this is over?"

Kate only kissed her back before pulling away, smiling at Alisha as she smiled back, opening the door so she could finish getting dressed, her heart light and effervescent in her chest, some of her fear faded and her confidence raising.

Being kissed by Kate, it felt like she could do anything.

Even kill some zombie killers.

***

After hearing the thumps on the stall wall, Leah turned to Sloane and whispered, "Finally."

Sloane smiled. "Glad I wasn't the only one sensing the tension."

"Honestly, with how much pining and denial they had, I was wondering if they were ever going to confess" Leah muttered. Moving to her stall, she snagged her clothes—a white crop top, checkered skirt and calf-length leggings—and set to work on getting dressed while Sloane did the same, her choice of outfit being acid washed jeans with rips in the knees, a shirt with a faded logo so baggy Sloane would have to knot it up, and her leather jacket and Doc Martens, after haven been cleaned and checked for blood. 

After they got dressed, Sloane took Leah's hand and mouthed, "Follow me."

Leah frowned, but followed Sloane after she slung her bag on her shoulder, opening the door and stepping out of the girls' bathroom—and giving her sister and Alisha some privacy.

Leah looked at Sloane, admiring her genius move, before Sloane murmured, "Do you think they're the only ones who confessed?"

Leah thought over tonight, thought of Deena and Sam and Sloane's brother and Adam and answered, "No. I don't think they are."

"And knowing my brother, he probably took Adam to somewhere more private," Sloane predicted.

They gave each other knowing smiles, of the romance blooming around them. Leah looked at the boys' bathroom, where Simon was, a look Sloane noticed. The Goth smiled, before Sloane nudged Leah toward the boys' bathroom. Leah turned to her, but Sloane only smiled. "Go. I have a feeling you've been dying to make sure he's okay for the past half hour."

Leah gave Sloane a grateful look, opening the door and seeing Josh on the other end.

"Hey, Josh," she said.

Josh looked at her, but only left the bathroom as Leah stepped inside, seeing Simon, in only his underwear. He startled at seeing her, before grinning. "Hey, Leah."

"Hey, Simon," Leah replied.

"You look... wow," Simon said, staring at her in her thrifted outfit, as if even in clothes found in the lost and found, after a night escaping killers, she was still the most beautiful person he laid eyes on.

Leah smiled. "Thanks."

She and Simon moved closer, Leah resting her hands on Simon's chest. They stared at each other, before closing the gap, their mouths meeting, bodies moving together, Simon's hands moving across her bared sides, Leah's fingers fisting his hair, their bodies pressed against each other, mouths colliding over and over again. Simon's hands slipped under her shirt before freezing. But Leah pulled away to take off her shirt and kiss him again, tracing her mouth over his, running her hands over his arms as Simon ran his hands down her back, slipping over her bra.

Leah had never been in love with anyone, never having crushes on people like Kate did. She didn't even know she was falling for Simon until she realised she was, and while she was terrified, especially when she confessed and braced for a rejection that never came, she was glad Simon was the one she fell for, her best friend, her first kiss, her first time. Her first love.

And as they kissed in this bathroom, Leah now pressed against a stall door, Simon kissing her like she was what he needed to live, like he couldn't get enough of her and she couldn't get enough of him, bodies moving against each other, inches away from getting intimate in another way, Leah was glad that Simon was the one she fell for.

That Simon would always be the one she loved.

***

Zack and Adam had been in the bathroom with Josh and Simon, washing themselves clean of any blood on them and getting into stalls to change into new clothes, for a few minutes before Adam knocked on the wall of Zack's stall.

"Want to get some more privacy?" Adam whispered.

Zack frowned. He'd love some privacy, especially if it could mean what he was thinking—if it did mean what he was thinking—but given the events of tonight... "Is that a good idea?"

"It won't be far. I just want to go somewhere else," Adam replied. 

With you was implied, and it had tingles erupt through Zack's nerves.

"Sure," he murmured.

Cracking open his stall, Zack slipped out, looking to see Adam slip out of his. He was in jeans, a denim jacket, and a dark green shirt with a hole at the hem, while Zack was in heavily faded jeans, a short-sleeved blue shirt, and a red sweater. They looked at each other before slipping out of the bathroom, neither Josh or Simon noticing them,

Taking Adam's hand, Zack creeped down to where he knew a janitor's closet was. Once there, he opened the door and they looked at each other, the smell of cleaning chemicals hanging heavily in the air, almost choking.

Adam looked around, mouth lifting up in a half-smile. "We're gonna have plenty of supplies for the plan."

Zack huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, we do. Hopefully enough to end those fuckers once and for all."

They looked at each other, the weight of what had almost happened before Ruby Lane had attacked Simon, of that something hanging between them amid the chaos and near-death experiences of tonight, as thick in the air as the smell of bleach. Zack tilted his head and asked, "What did you want to get privacy about, Goode?"

Adam flinched at the mention of his family name, and Zack winced. "Right. Sorry."

"No, you're fine," Adam said. He ran a hand through his curls, sighing. "It's been a... really fucking weird night."

Zack laughed. "Yeah. Finding out firsthand my ancestor's curse is actually real by being chased by her undead minions was not something I was expecting tonight."

"Hopefully Josh's plan gets rid of them," Adam said.

"Hopefully," Zack agreed.

They grew quiet before Adam admitted, "Crazy strong zombie killers and near-death experiences aside, I... I'm glad to be here."

"Why's that?" Zack asked, looking at Adam, his heart beating quicker, hope flooding him.

"Growing up in Sunnyvale, I've always felt stuck. I hate that town, I hate everyone in it, I hate my family. But what I hate most is that I've never felt like I belonged there, that I tried to fit in, only for that to backfire when I realised people didn't want me, a kid with a Shadyside father hanging around their kids, the kids themselves assholes-in-training like their parents. That I learned from when I was a kid that my own family would have never wanted me if not for my mom," Adam confessed, a vulnerable expression crossing over his face. "I learned early what Sunnyvale was really like, to know early that I didn't belong there, to grow up hating everything about it. But I've grown up without anyone, no friends, no real family... nothing. I always told myself it was better, that I was better alone. But after tonight... I realised I was wrong."

He looked at Zack then, openness flooding his face, raw emotion exposed to Zack. "Tonight showed me what true friendship is like, what... what it feels like to belong. Not to a place, but with people, the people who truly care about you, who'd risk their lives for yours. That I've felt more alive running for my life from zombie killers than I've ever been growing up in Sunnyvale."

He moved closer to Zack, taking his hand. "I've felt more alive with you, Zack."

Zack's heart stuttered against his rib cage, the hope unfurling tentative tendrils, noting how close they were. That Adam still held his hand.

"Ever since the vigil, I can't stop thinking about you, Zack. You make me feel alive, make me feel like I'm seeing the world in colour after spending all my life seeing it in black and white, that you brought that colour," Adam went on, eyes locked on Zack's, full of that emotion. "And I don't care, that I'm a Goode and you're a Fier, about the divides with Shadyside and Sunnyvale, about what the world thinks, about whatever odds are stacked against us. What I do care about, is you, Zack. I'll always care about you."

Adam let go of his hand and held Zack's face, the two of them staring at each other, Adam's words and their emotion swirling around them, hope beating inside Zack. Thoughts swarmed his head like butterflies, a multitude of them, whispering, Should I do it? What if he didn't say it like I thought he meant? What if I ruin this, whatever this is? What is this? 

What if it's exactly like I'm thinking, hoping? That I want it to be?

It was this last thought Zack listened to as he closed the gap and pressed his mouth to Adam's.

Adam stumbled back and Zack pulled away, thinking he screwed it up, he ruined it—but Adam's mouth found his, kissing him with a ferocity that Zack was surprised by, but he matched it, hand digging into Adam's curls, the other gripping the back of his jacket, kissing each other like this first kiss was their last, all passion and fire. They pulled away, lips bruised and lungs heaving, but Zack's mouth was aching with a smile, staring at this boy he liked, the boy who liked him back, the boy he shouldn't have fallen for, but had.

The boy who liked him back, who fell for him just as hard, though he shouldn't have as well.

"I care about you too, Adam," Zack murmured, looking at Adam with that same emotion, faces close to each other.

This time, Adam incited the kiss, hands holding his hair as he pushed Zack against a shelf. Products rattled, but neither of them cared as they kissed with that same ferocity, the ferocity of first love, of first kisses, Adam's hands in Zack's hair and Zack's gripping Adam's jacket, holding each other tightly as they kept kissing, tracing the pattern of each other's mouths, colliding again and again, sparks tingling through Zack with each kiss, each touch of Adam's hands as they moved from his hair to hold his neck, to hold his waist. Kissing like it was their last, kissing in knowing killers were after them but not caring one damn about it.

Kissing knowing who they were, the sides that should have kept them apart, and yet here they were, screwing all the odds, all the forces screaming they shouldn't.

And it was the best damn kiss Zack ever had, with the most handsome boy, the boy he'd fallen hard for. That Zack was certain he would never stop falling for.

They would have kept kissing if a noise hadn't sounded in the school. Faint, but in the quiet of the school, it was loud as thunder.

"You heard that too, right?" Adam whispered.

"Yeah," Zack confirmed. "I think our time's up."

Adam didn't say anything, but Zack knew he agreed with Zack. He moved to leave the room, but Zack caught his hand, a sudden thought coming. "Adam, if this doesn't work, if I—"

"Zack, no. Your family's curse isn't going to take you. You or Sloane. You can beat it. We can beat both curses," Adam interrupted, determination in his voice. He smiled. "Besides, I think I want to take you on a date after this."

Zack's heart galloped treacherously despite his trepidation, his fear. But he bit his tongue and just held Adam's hand firmly as they left the janitor's closet and back toward the bathrooms, his hand fitting into Adam's like it was meant to. Like they were always meant for each other, a sense of comfort between them after the kiss, like a well-worn sweater.

It only had Zack interlace his fingers with Adam's as they arrived back at the bathrooms, seeing Josh and Sloane standing there as Simon and Leah walked out, Leah smoothing down her hair and straightening her skirt, both her and Simon grinning. The door opened and Kate and Alisha walked out, dressed in new outfits like they all were, but something had changed between them—like something had changed between him and Adam.

Zack raised an eyebrow. They finally confessed.

Simon noticed, his smile widening. "No!"

"Calm down. It was barely first base," Kate told him, but as she and Alisha looked at each other, Zack had a feeling they both wanted it to be more, would gladly had it be more, if not for the situation.

Footsteps came and they all turned to see Sam and Deena there who, just like her sister and Kate, like him and Adam, looked way more comfortable around each other, glancing at each other every so often, hands close to brushing.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait," Simon said, looking between them, the couples standing close to each other. "Did you all go to pound town?"

None of them answered, just looked at each other, Zack and Adam keeping quiet—they'd only kissed, after all, and that was enough for them. Sloane and Josh were the only ones exempt, and his sister smirked knowingly at him, making Zack's cheeks burn but he kept holding Adam's hand as Josh looked between his sisters, and Leah had a matching knowing smile as she looked at Kate and Alisha.

Simon grinned, him and Leah looking at each other before he revealed, "Us too."

Zack blinked, mind realising what Simon meant—so that's why Leah looks so dishevelled—before a bang came from somewhere in the school, along with a sound that almost sounded like clicking.

They all looked at each other—their time was up, and it was time for the plan.

To blow up the killers and send them back to their graves.

***

WE GOT KALISHA AND ZADAM CONFESSIONS AND KISSES!!!

But seriously, I LOVED writing theirs and Leah and Simon's kisses so much, as much as writing Alisha's, Leah's, Sloane's, Zack's and Adam's outfits!! I imagine they all happen at the same time (along with the Sam and Deena kiss), but I'm just so happy with writing their kisses and the confessions for Kate and Alisha and Zack and Adam 🥰

Meanwhile, Sloane and Josh are just chilling in the hallway XD

(also, Simon and Leah didn't have sex, but got very close to it. Just in case for any confusion)

But yeah, now they're gonna blow up the killers—and someone new is gonna join them... >:)

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!