Journal of the Undead (Book 1): Littleville Uprising by S.G. Lee

okay.”
    Emma gently brushed Lucy’s tears away and escorted her to the restroom. When the girls returned, their table had been cleared and Evan was gone. Great , Emma thought, now he really hates me . Sighing, she went to the register to pay. The owner informed her that the polite young man had already taken care of the bill. Evan was standing outside leaning against the window and waiting when Emma marched over to him and held out a twenty-dollar bill.
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Emma, put that away. It’s bad enough you’re not getting paid. There’s no reason to end up in the hole.”
    “Would you stop being difficult? I told Lucy it was my treat,”
    “You’re the one being difficult. Most people would just say ‘thank you.’ Now come on, we’d better get going. It looks like rain.”
    “Thank you,” Emma mumbled the words as she stared at her feet.
    Evan flashed a toothy grin at her. “You’re welcome.”
    Halfway home it started to rain and by the time they reached the house everyone was soaked. Lucy giggled and squealed as she splashed through every puddle. Emma shook her head and sighed. Worst babysitter ever … First I made her cry, now she’ll catch pneumonia. I’ll be grounded ‘til I’m thirty .
    As she unlocked the door, Emma told Lucy to go straight upstairs for a warm bath and dry clothes. When Lucy whined that she didn’t want to take a bath, Evan couldn’t resist reminding her.
    “Dad said Emma was in charge.”
    As she climbed the stairs, Lucy stuck her tongue out at him. Emma filled Lucy’s bath with warm water and lots of bubbles. Moments later, Evan appeared in the doorway wearing dry clothes and rubbing his wet hair with a towel.
    “Emma, I put out some dry clothes for you in my room. You’d better go change before you get sick.”
    “I’ll be fine.”
    “Ok, how about you go change before you soak every floor in the house?” Evan’s words dripped with sarcasm. Since a tiny puddle had already formed on the floor beneath her, Emma sighed and shuffled off to Evan’s room.
    “You know, for such an expansive vocabulary you’re surprisingly unfamiliar with thank you,” he called after her.
    Evan had left a towel, a t-shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and socks for her folded on his bed. While changing, Emma noticed a book on the desk. The cover looked familiar; it was the book he’d been reading in the cafeteria. Curious, she took a closer look. Journal of the Undead: A Survivor’s Guide by Dr. G.E. Mitchell. Emma laughed in disbelief. Unbelievable ! He’s always acting so intellectually superior but this is what he reads. Ten to one he’s one of those sci-fi geeks with a closet full of costumes.
    There was a soft tap at the door. Evan’s voice called out, asking if everything was okay. Emma tossed the book on his desk, grabbed her wet clothes, and opened the door. She followed Evan to the laundry room and put her clothes in the dryer.
    With a wink, Evan told her, “Don’t worry, it’ll be our secret.” Her puzzled look spurred him to continue, “I won’t tell anyone you got in my pants.” Chuckling, he dodged Emma’s slap.
    Following dinner, all three played board games as the clock ticked closer to Lucy’s bedtime. Emma had expected a battle when 8:30 came around but Lucy went to her room without a fuss.
    After she tucked Lucy in and had changed back into her own clothes, she found Evan waiting for her in the living room.
    “Can I ask you something?”
    “I’d say you just did.” Her glib reply was met with eye-rolling.
    “Don’t you watch TV? Every time Lucy suggested watching TV, you came up with something else to do. Are you one of those ‘TV rots your mind’ types?”
    Emma giggled. “No, I love watching TV. It’s just that I’m still grounded, so no TV, no computer. Jillian even took my iPod. Don’t get me wrong, Lucy is a great kid, but she tends to repeat things she shouldn’t. If she let it slip that I was watching television, I’d get in even