“Then the beautiful woman left Lilah alone in the church with William. Lilah cried over William’s body and said she was sorry. Then she left. Since everyone was gone, the priest came back in. He’d been outside giving them space. It was a cold winter day, and he’d seen a homeless person shivering on the steps. He looked at William’s body and considered whether he should give the homeless person William’s scarf. The priest figured that the casket would be closed before William would be buried, so the family wouldn’t know. William was gone, so he wouldn’t know. And the homeless person wouldn’t be so cold, and that was good. The priest decided to take the scarf.”

“Ew, don’t touch dead William and his dirty scarf!” Colette said quietly. She was gripping my arm so tightly, my hand was starting to fall asleep.

“Well, I think he regretted it, because when the priest removed William’s scarf, he realized why William had worn it all those years.”

“Why?” Colette asked in a small voice, her eyes huge in the darkness.

“Without the scarf holding it on, William’s head fell off.”

“GIRLS!” someone snapped harshly.

Colette and I jumped. I don’t know who screamed first, but I know I stopped last. Dogs started barking somewhere, and as if that wasn’t enough, I heard Kennedy’s brother, Kane, start to cry from inside the cabin.

My mom stood under the back porch light with her hands on her hips. “It’s after midnight!” she scolded. “Come inside right now!”

Getting down from the rock in a hurry was like rubbing a cheese grater on the back of my bare legs.

“Sorry, Mom,” I said as I passed her, my thighs stinging.

“Sorry, Ms. Harper,” Colette said when she went by.

“You two are trouble,” my mom said in a way that told me we weren’t actually in trouble. “I know you were just having fun, but it’s late, and I really need you to keep it down, okay?”

“Okay,” we said in unison.

When we made it back to the loft without dying on the treacherous stairs, Kennedy had flipped over again, but she was still snoring away, and Frankie was asleep, too, still wearing Colette’s headphones.

Tucked back in the musty queen-size bed, us now smelling like bug spray and outdoors, I yawned, and Colette did, too.

“So, Lilah chopped off his head?” she whispered.

“Uh-huh,” I said, pulling the covers up to my chin.

“And he was a zombie all that time?”

I nodded, making the pillow rustle.

“But then he died again?”

“His zombie body ran out of gas.” I laughed quietly, knowing that hadn’t really made sense.

“That was a good one,” Colette whispered sleepily.

“Yeah, it was okay?” I closed my eyes.

“Nine out of ten.”

“Not ten?”

“You’re such a perfectionist.” Yawn.