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
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to just hug him. I wanted to hold him, and more, like I had before, back when we were boyfriends.
Then I remembered Otto.
I had a boyfriend! I had told Kevin this. If he had thought that by coming out he was going to change everything, well, he'd been wrong. Nothing was different.
I decided to change the subject. "So how do you jump a car anyway? I can never remember."
Kevin stared at me a second. Then he grinned (impishly, natch). "It's easy. Come here, I'll show you. You have to make sure you do it right, or the battery can explode."
I took a step closer to the engine but still held back. I'd like to say I was worried about the battery exploding, but I was really more afraid of getting too close to Kevin.
"You start with both cars turned off," Kevin said. "Then you connect the positive cable—that's the red one—to the positive terminal on the dead battery. See, it's marked with a little plus sign?"
I had to shuffle closer to the engine to see what Kevin was talking about. I was standing right next to him now, so close I could actually feel his body heat. I felt like a satellite reentering the earth's atmosphere.
"Okay," Kevin said, "then you connect the other positive end to the positive terminal of the good battery." Since we didn't have a second car, he had to pantomime this part. "Next you take the negative end—the black one—and connect it to the negative side of the bad battery." Kevin did this too. As he worked, I noticed that he had more black grease on his hands. "Finally, you connect the other negative end to the last terminal of the good battery."
This close to him, I could smell Kevin too. It had only been eight months, but I'd already forgotten his complicated mixture of scents: dollar soap, leather from his baseball mitt, and fresh-cut grass.
He turned to face me. "Then you just start the cars."
I turned to face him. Our lips were only inches apart. "Start the cars?" I said, my mouth bone-dry.
"Live car first," he said softly, almost a whisper. "And let it run for a few minutes. Then you can start the dead car."
I wasn't listening. If I ever found myself with a dead battery, I still wouldn't have any idea what to do. But I did know one thing. Being so close to Kevin was jump-starting my heart. I could feel the sizzle of his electricity right in front of me, could hear it crackling.
No ! I thought. I loved Otto !
But Otto lived eight hundred miles away. For months he'd been nothing more than flashing blips on a computer screen.
Kevin leaned forward. He was definitely no mere flashing blip. No, he was flesh and blood, and more.
His lips touched mine. The electricity surged between us. But we must have been doing something wrong, because it felt like my head was exploding.
This was totally unacceptable! I had made it very clear to him that he and I couldn't be together! (Except that that had all changed when he came out.)
But Kevin was kissing me. And the embarrassing, totally honest truth is that, yeah, I think maybe I was kissing him back.
CHAPTER SIX
"Russ?" a voice said.
It was Gunnar, standing with Em behind me in the parking lot.
I immediately jerked back from Kevin.
"Kevin needs a jump!" I said loudly.
"Yeah," Em said wryly. "And I can see you were giving him one."
It was a really funny joke, but none of us laughed, not even a little. I think it was because the situation was just so unbelievably not-funny.
Gunnar moved his car closer, so we could get Kevin's running again. Kevin worked in complete silence. I watched it all from one side, unable to move or talk. It was the closest I'd ever come to having an out-of-body experience.
As Kevin backed his car away, he leaned out the window and said to me with a wink, "See you tomorrow."
I didn't answer, but I felt myself sort of wave.
I caught a glimpse of something on the back of my hand. He'd left a grease mark on my skin, and no matter how I rubbed it, it wouldn't come off.
* * *
Oh, God, did I feel
Then I remembered Otto.
I had a boyfriend! I had told Kevin this. If he had thought that by coming out he was going to change everything, well, he'd been wrong. Nothing was different.
I decided to change the subject. "So how do you jump a car anyway? I can never remember."
Kevin stared at me a second. Then he grinned (impishly, natch). "It's easy. Come here, I'll show you. You have to make sure you do it right, or the battery can explode."
I took a step closer to the engine but still held back. I'd like to say I was worried about the battery exploding, but I was really more afraid of getting too close to Kevin.
"You start with both cars turned off," Kevin said. "Then you connect the positive cable—that's the red one—to the positive terminal on the dead battery. See, it's marked with a little plus sign?"
I had to shuffle closer to the engine to see what Kevin was talking about. I was standing right next to him now, so close I could actually feel his body heat. I felt like a satellite reentering the earth's atmosphere.
"Okay," Kevin said, "then you connect the other positive end to the positive terminal of the good battery." Since we didn't have a second car, he had to pantomime this part. "Next you take the negative end—the black one—and connect it to the negative side of the bad battery." Kevin did this too. As he worked, I noticed that he had more black grease on his hands. "Finally, you connect the other negative end to the last terminal of the good battery."
This close to him, I could smell Kevin too. It had only been eight months, but I'd already forgotten his complicated mixture of scents: dollar soap, leather from his baseball mitt, and fresh-cut grass.
He turned to face me. "Then you just start the cars."
I turned to face him. Our lips were only inches apart. "Start the cars?" I said, my mouth bone-dry.
"Live car first," he said softly, almost a whisper. "And let it run for a few minutes. Then you can start the dead car."
I wasn't listening. If I ever found myself with a dead battery, I still wouldn't have any idea what to do. But I did know one thing. Being so close to Kevin was jump-starting my heart. I could feel the sizzle of his electricity right in front of me, could hear it crackling.
No ! I thought. I loved Otto !
But Otto lived eight hundred miles away. For months he'd been nothing more than flashing blips on a computer screen.
Kevin leaned forward. He was definitely no mere flashing blip. No, he was flesh and blood, and more.
His lips touched mine. The electricity surged between us. But we must have been doing something wrong, because it felt like my head was exploding.
This was totally unacceptable! I had made it very clear to him that he and I couldn't be together! (Except that that had all changed when he came out.)
But Kevin was kissing me. And the embarrassing, totally honest truth is that, yeah, I think maybe I was kissing him back.
CHAPTER SIX
"Russ?" a voice said.
It was Gunnar, standing with Em behind me in the parking lot.
I immediately jerked back from Kevin.
"Kevin needs a jump!" I said loudly.
"Yeah," Em said wryly. "And I can see you were giving him one."
It was a really funny joke, but none of us laughed, not even a little. I think it was because the situation was just so unbelievably not-funny.
Gunnar moved his car closer, so we could get Kevin's running again. Kevin worked in complete silence. I watched it all from one side, unable to move or talk. It was the closest I'd ever come to having an out-of-body experience.
As Kevin backed his car away, he leaned out the window and said to me with a wink, "See you tomorrow."
I didn't answer, but I felt myself sort of wave.
I caught a glimpse of something on the back of my hand. He'd left a grease mark on my skin, and no matter how I rubbed it, it wouldn't come off.
* * *
Oh, God, did I feel
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