2.3: The Wedding, the Witch, and the Cure

    NOTE/WARNING: There's one picture of a Sim in the shower. (But, it's blurred out).
     I closed my eyes, taking a breath. I gripped the vial tightly. The cure. Francois's cure. I opened the mausoleum's door, it creaking loudly. The old musty smell filled my lungs once again.
    "Francois?" I called out. I groan was my greeting. I walked further,
to the back of the crypt. A zombie began moving towards me. I tried forcing him to drink the cure, but he wouldn't. I pushed him onto the ground and sat across his mid section. I unscrewed the lid of the vial and poured it down his throat. Soon, we'd know if it worked. If he'd be cured.
    I only created the cure yesterday. I hope it worked.

Yesterday...

    I took a deep breath as I punched the button to Bea's floor number. I gripped the small piece of paper and took a deep breath. Evelyn had given me the fairy's address yesterday morning; it took some time, and I'd eagerly been wanting to visit ever since. But I couldn't. To create the zombie cure elixir, I had to become a better alchemist. I'd been practicing for hours upon end and finally had become skillful and I could cure him and go to Paris  and it would be romantic, and, and, and I....what if he'd mad? If we hadn't done...it...he'd never have been a zombie. But we probably would still just be friends. Stuck in the friend zone.

experienced enough. It was June; I'd been practicing for a few months.
    "Hello?" A voice crackled over the machine.
    "Um, hey. I'm a friend of E
velyn's she told me-"
    "Evelyn Wilks?"
    "Yeah, we um,"
    "That's great! And you're a friend, you say?"
     "Yes, I hope you don't mind. But,"
     "Mind? Evelyn and I were superb chums. I'll be right down." Guess that went well. The elevator chimed and a bright bottle blonde, or more accurately, yellow headed girl stepped out. She wore black and yellow and looked like a bumble bee. "Hello." She cheerfully said. We shook hands. "So, what brings you to my neck of the city?"
    "My boyfriend," and I begun to tell her the story. The vacation, the zombie, everything. Except for the sex part. That was a little personal to tell a stranger. "And now, I need fairy dust to cure him."
    "Aw." She wiped her eyes. "Quite a romantic story you've got yourself there."
    "I 'pose."
    "And you need fairy dust?"
    "Mm-hm. I do."
    "Well...normal I charge a price. But...."
    "But? I have money. If you wanted some, I could give-"
    "No, no. Money is of no interest to me. I usually play tricks. Evelyn and I, we were quite little tricksters."
    "Evelyn was a fairy?"
    "No, no. We'd pull silly little pranks, you know, kids stuff. I acted like her mother....I was, am twenty-five. I took a potion and I don't age, now. Evelyn was like a daughter, with her being ten years younger...her mom had the child when she was old. Forties or something. Maybe fifty. It was insanity and seemed impossible. The customer didn't care. Left the poor kid."
    "Customer?"
    "Don't you know? Evelyn's mum was selling her body for money. Evelyn was an accident."
    "What?! She seems so...perfect. Evelyn does."
    "I might have had a little something to do with it....I took care of her. I worked as the live in nanny; cast a few spells to help her grow up better."
     "She said you were a roommate..."
     "Oh..." She blushed. "Probably shouldn't have told you that....I'll give you dusty and The Great One's address, you keep quiet. Deal?"
     "Okay, I wouldn't-okay." I wouldn't say anything, anyway. It was personal.
     A few moments later, I had the dust and location of the Great One. I was almost done with the spell. The cure. Francois's cure. The man I love. Do you? I began to doubt myself. Did I love him? Yes.....I think..... It doesn't matter. I'm curing him. I though as I drove into the secluded woods. What is love? What is it? Do I love him? He's my first real boyfriend. It may just be jitters. No! No, you love him. I reached the creepy castle like structure and parked. I got out of the car and slowly walked over to the front porch. I knocked.
    "Who is it?" A grouchy voice replied.
    "Tiffani Janes." I replied.
    "Who's that?"
    "I-I need a spell."
    "What?" The door flew open. "No one's needed a spell in three decades! My powers and I have been left to rot away in this place. What makes you think that I"ll suddenly start the magic makin' again?"
    "My boyfriend's a zombie. I need a cure. I have fairy dust."
    "Love. Pfht. Am I suppose to weep and give you what you want?"
    "No, I just thought-"
    "What? You though I'd get your sob story and give you one of the most powerful spells to create an elixir?"
    "A trade. We could trade."
    "A trade....fairy dust?"
    "Yes." I held the three jars.
    "Give me the dust."
    "I need reassurance."
    "You want the spell?"
    "Yes."
    მომეცი ძალა. მომეცი გადახვევა. მე გთავაზობთ შენ ძალა დღესასწაული საფუძველზე. გახსნა მსოფლიოს ჯადოსნური და მისტიკური. წყნარი და ნეტარება. გახსნა მსოფლიოს დუმილი და მშვიდობა. მომეცი გადახვევა განკურნება ცოცხალი მკვდარი." A scroll mystically appeared. "Here." She handed it to me. I took the scroll and read it. Eye of newt, butterfly wings, mushroom caps, and a diamond. All things I had on hand. I'd stocked up on magically supplies from a small shop in the poor part of the city.
"No reassurance, then." I gave her the jars and she began speaking in an odd tongue. Symbols appeared in an order I didn't understand and light began to swirl."
    "Thank you."
    "Do not tell anyone where I am. Or I will curse you."
    "Really?"
    "No. She laughed. "I move cities every time some one finds me. Tell whomever you like they'll think you're bat crazy."
    "Uh, okay." With that, I felt a wave of oddity.  The land began to spin and spin. I felt like I was moving through a wall of brick. I woke up in my car in the garage. Had she just teleported me? 
    I ran to the backyard and gathered my supplies. Eye of newt, butterfly wings, mushroom caps, and a diamond. I began mixing and adding this and that, until the potion bubbled a blue-green color.
    "Give me strength. Give me a scroll. I suggest to you based on the strength of the holiday. The opening of the magical and mystical world. Peaceful and bliss. The silence and peace in the world. Give me the scroll to cure the living dead." The words made no sense, but then again, they didn't have to. The potion began bubbling and sizzling. It was complete. I poured it into a vial and placed it in my pocket. I had the power to cure him.
     "Guys, guys!" I ran inside. I stopped and gasped. Cassie was standing their, in her lingerie, marrying Jamie. 
    "I do." She said. They kissed and I gasped. Cassie had officially married my brother! Cassie was my sister in-law....Jamie rubbed Cassie stomach. Cassie was pregnant. Again? "Tiff!" Cassie gasped, turning to face me. "Jamie and I...."
    "Are married. And are you pregnant?"
    "Yeah...." She blushed. "Both. Twenty weeks."
    "Wow...five months. Did you not think to tell anyone?"
    "Uh, w-w-we were gon-n-na. But-t-"
    "We're moving out." Jamie interrupted Cassie's rambling, stutter of her explanation.
    "What?! When?"
    "Tomorrow...we bought Mom's old home."
    "Do you never think to tell anyone anything?"
    "Harry knew. Mom knew."
    "Oh."
    "We were going to tell you. Honest...it just happened."
    "Congratulations." I smiled, my surprise wavering away. "I always wanted a sister."
    "Tiff!" Cassie blushed, hugging me.
    I sighed. The most likely to never marry couple had gotten married. And they were both eighteen with one baby and another on the way. I wasn't jealous, but I felt odd. Alex and Evelyn, who I assumed would be married and mother of five by know, were still dating. It didn't seem like marriage was close.

Back in France, Today...

    A change was occurring. The rotting, vile skin of a zombie turned into Francois's smooth skin. There was a sudden flash. I was blinded; stuck shielding my eyes with my hand. I opened them, once the lighting of the room had gone back to pitch dark; my only light my iPhone. His eyes where closed, but his pulse beat. Francois was human. He was cured. I leaned forwards and kissed his lips. He had dirt covering him and a slight odor, but I didn't care. He was mine. I sat back up, into my original position.
    "Mm..." He began stirring.
    "Francois?" I whispered. "Francois, it's Tiff. Francois, can you hear mee? Are you okay? Please be okay..."
    "Tiff?" He groggily asked, opening his eyes. "Tiff." He smiled, then tried to sit up. He couldn't since I was pinning him down. "Could you?"
     "Oh!" I blushed, realizing that I was in quite the awkward position. I moved off him and helped him stand.
     "I love you." He whispered. "Tiff...I-I...I don't want to rush things..but. I thought I was gone. That I'd lost you. Tiff. I can't-couldn't stand the thought. I love you so much."
     "I love you too." I wiped away the tears of joy. I hugged him and started kissing him.
     "Tiff." We pulled away. "I'm dirty."
     "I don't care." I pulled him close again.
     "Tiff." He laughed.
     "Fine. We can go back to my hotel. You can shower and then-"
     "I'm all yours."
     We walked back to the car, holding hands. He was back. Francois was human again. As I drove to the hotel with him riding shotgun, I started thinking. What was our future? Sure, I had my plan, but Francois may have a different one. Our future...I was eighteen and naive, yet somehow I didn't feel that way. I felt older. Like the future wasn't this whatever happens happens thing, it could be planned. You couldn't plan everything, but you could plan something.
     "Francois....do you ever think about the future?" 
     "Future...oui. Sometimes. It depends what oo are thinking about in zee future."
     "Like, what? Career," Marriage. Family.
     "Tiffani...I like you very much. I love you. I have you, zat ez enough. I do not need to think about zee future quite yet." He smiled. "Besides, you are eighteen. And I am twenty-one. We have years ahead of us; it'ez empossible to plan everything. We live for the now. Make a choice."
      "Okay.... I just....never mind." I focused on the road.
      Back at the hotel, I laid on the bed in my bra and panties. Francois was showering. Live for know...make a choice. I heard the water running and made a choice. I took off my flimsy scraps of undergarments, stood up, and opened the bathroom door. I glanced at his backside. He had a cute butt.
      "Hey." I whispered, slipping in the shower with him.
      "Tiff." He said, surprised. "What-" I kissed him, softly. The rest wasn't words. We entered bliss as I let him inside me. Live for now. Don't need to plan every moment. 
      "That wasn't bad, now was it?" I asked him, toweling myself off.
      "It wasn't..." He had a dazed look on his face, as if he couldn't believe everything that just happened.
       I let the towel drop and I moved myself onto the counter. I tried posing sultry, teasing him to come and get it. He did. We kissed. I whispered in his ear. The evening became a blur. I stayed with him in France for three months, our relationship becoming highly physical. Six months away from one another had left us both animals yearning for each others touch. 
      Finally came the day I had to leave. I packed up everything I'd bought and brought, sighing. I didn't want to leave him. Yet, I had to. My publisher was constantly nagging me to write, which I did. I just did very little of it. I'd published a book of short love poems and a children's story, but nothing new and notable.
      "I'll be back. Soon." I promised.
      "One of these days, I vill have to come to America to zee you." 
      "Come to America? But France is so gorgeous. Besides...it's kinda embarrassing....but I live with my parents, still.  And we can't," I whispered the dirty things we'd done, "At my parents."
       "True." He smiled. "True, we can not. But I could still meet zem. Your parents."
       "Meet my Mom and Harry, my step-dad....Maybe." I laughed. "They can be kinda crazy at times."
       "Aren't they all, though?" He asked, joining in with my laughter.
       "I haven't me your parents."
       "My parents..." A look of sadness over came him. "My parents are dead."
       "I'm so sorry!" I gasped. "I didn't mean to-"
       "It is okay. It happened a long time ago.....they in an accident. I was a leetle boy, about a year old. My parents owned a tiny shop. It was torn down after there death. All zee money was used to pay for funerals and some went to me for university. In zee shop, my parents baked a few goods to sell to tourists. One day, a fire started....they did not escape. I was told that my Mother kept me in a crib in their office to watch during see day; all my relatives where gone, so they had to watch me. I was lucky zat they left me napping to go to the basement and bake...I do not remember anything. Zee fire had not moved to the first floor, when a customer noticed and called zee fireman. It was to late for zem. everyone else was okay, but not zem...." Tears weld up in his eyes.
       "Francois." I hugged him. "I'm sorry."
.      "She called me Franc...I remember zat. And she would rock me to sleep and sing me a lullaby. I do not remember the lyrics, but I remember her voice. She was a good singer...."
       "Francois..." I looked him straight in the eyes. "I love you. And I will come back."
       "I love you, too, Tiffani." Tiffani. My full name. when he said it, it sounded...so romantic. I loved it. "You do not mind I call you Tiffani? Zee name is so pretty."
       "I love it." I smiled.
       As I bored my plane, I felt regret. I wish I could stay in France forever. My vacation, not to mention my visa, could only last so long. At the airport in America, I gathered my luggage and went to the pick-up zone. Jamie, James, and Cassie plus one were waiting for me.
      "Hey guys." I greeted them. Jamie took my baggage and put it in the trunk. He sat in the drivers seat, next to Cassie. In their Toyota Sienna van, I sat in the middle row, with James in his car seat next to me.
     "So, how was your trip?"
     "Great." I smiled. "Cass, you look about ready to burst!
     "Thirty-two weeks." She giggled. "I'm getting kinda nervous." 
     "You still have a month to go." I reassured her. 
     "I don't think the twins agree."
     "Twins!" I gasped. "Congratulations."
     "Thanks." Cassie said.
     "We're a little nervous." Jamie said. "But ready. We went to the baby store and bought two of everything."
      "Two cribs and changing stations and clothing and toys." Cassie sighed. "And an eight passenger van!"
     "Wow..." We parked in their drive way.
     "You don't mind if I drop Cassie and James off, do you?" Jamie asked.
     "Little guy's hungry." Cassie commented.
     "He's an adorable baby."
     "Thanks. Do you want to hold him and carry him in?"
     "Can I?" I gasped. I hadn't held him yet.
     "Sure. you're his aunt, after all." I held him as we walked inside. I gave James back to his daddy and we chatted for a bit.
     "So how's your boyfriend?" Cassie asked me.
     "Great, actually. He's better...." I smiled.
     "What's his name?" Jamie asked. "Wait, wait." He snapped his fingers. "Fran-swa, right?"
     "You're lucky." Cassie sighed.
     "Hey!"
     "Jamie, no need to shout." Cassie rolled her eyes. "He's so overprotective with the twins and me."
     "I just want to make sure that you're safe..."
     "I know, sweet." She kissed his cheek.
      I wonder what Francois would be like a father...not that I was thinking of children anytime soon. I had my plan. I couldn't help but wonder. He surely would be. He was so kind and sweet. Little girl. Little girls. I had no idea how I would handle a boy. I grew up with two brothers; two annoying brothers who liked bugs and pranks. Sweet little girls to paint with me and write poetry....I was a twin, so that increased my chance of multiples slightly. French. France. I'd love to be wed underneath the stars in Paris...who knows. I just might be.

2.2: Meet James Jr.

    I sat on my writing shorts on my laptop. My publisher emailed that I needed to write a collection of children's stories to gain more of an audience; I couldn't write stories for adults and teens, I needed stories for babies. So far, I'd written Gumbo Learns to Share,  Gumbo's Surprise Party, Gumbo's Halloween, Gumbo's Thankful: A Thanksgiving Short, and Meet Gumbo all in the past two months. My publisher thinks Gumbo will catch on, since he's a turtle.
    Stupid zombies, ruining my flimsy fraction of a love life. I had locked myself in the room, only leaving when I had to. I wasn't counterproductive; I'd wake up at six, shower, write until eight-thirty, Google 'The Great One' or 'Zombie Cure' until nine, write or play computer games until noon, eat lunch, go back to my room, write some more, do one hundred jumping jacks, eat dinner, write, and send whatever I'd written to the publisher for feedback, then go to bed at ten. The result was I'd written seventeen novels in twelve weeks.
    "Come on Tiff." Jamie walked into my room.
    "Where?" I saved my work and shut my laptop lid.
    "We're going to go see someone."
    "I don't need a therapist."
    "Good. We aren't going to see one." He grabbed my arm and pulled my off the bed, into a standing position.
    "Who are we seeing?"
    "A good friend." I followed him downstairs, to the convertible. "You drive."
    "I don't know where to go."
    "I'll tell you."
    "Bu-"
    "Dammit Tiff, quit the pity party."
    "Gee." I mumbled, getting in the car.
    "Tiff. People have bigger problems then you do. I'm not saying that yours aren't important, but you could stop hiding in your room and act like you care about somebody other than yourself. I know you really liked that guy, but it isn't the end of the world."
    "Where to? And who told you about him?"
    "You told Evelyn, who told Alex, who told me. Turn right. To the park."
    "Did she mention the hm-hm part?"
    "Yes."
    "Evelyn!"I didn't tell her the I-slept-with-him part, but still.
    "We're here." I parked the car and hopped out. "Follow me." Jamie instructed me.
    "Why are we at the Winter Fest?"
    "You'll see."
    "You know I hate surprises."
    "Hi honey. Are you okay?" He said softly, lovingly. Then he hugged her. I stood behind, looking to who he was talking to.
    "Cassie?" I gasped. Her eyes had dark bags underneath them and her stomach was rounded.
    "Hey Tiff." She weakly said.
    "Are you-?"
    "Yeah..."
    "How far-"
    "Eight and a half months. Thirty-four weeks, exactly."
    "When's the due date?"
    "Early March."
    "Congratulations..." I whispered, hugging her. Then it hit me. She was working while heavily pregnant, in the snow.
    "Honey, you can always come stay with us. You know that. You don't have to work. You shouldn't."
    "Jamie....I can't mooch off your parents."
    "You aren't. You're-we're dating and carrying their first grand kid. They'd love to have you."
    "Do they know?" I asked.
    "No....I tried to tell them. The day you came home. You started acting weird and they where freaked out about that. I try, but they're so worried.....about you..."
    "I'm sorry." I whispered. "Was the baby, he or she, you know. Planned?"

    "Not exactly." Cassie laughed, weakly. Of course it wasn't planned. Cassie was the insane eight and a half months along...conceived back in June. We'd either just graduated or where still in school....or course it wasn't planned! Who planned a baby when they where still in high school? Granted, we'd graduated, but still.
    "He." Jamie quietly added. We're having a boy...."
    "I'm going to be an aunt! And Cassie....Jamie....parents!" 
    "I guess we are." Cassie smiled. She smiled, walked over to me, and opened her mouth to say something, when she slipped on ice. She fell onto her back and started moaning in pain.
    "Cassie!" Jamie yelled. He picked her up and began carrying her to the car. "Get the door!" He screamed. He laid her in the back seat. I sat upfront, next to Jamie. He began driving to the hospital, when Cassie spoke.
    "Jamie....go home..."
    "You're hurt! You need medical attention. And the baby...."
    "Jamie...the baby's fine...." She spoke slowly.  "Take me home."
    "Cassie...."
    "Don't mess with a pregnant woman...." Her voice faded and her eyes closed.
    "Cassie. Cassie!" He spun around, to look at her. We pulled over and he felt for a pulse. She was alive. Sleeping.
    "Tiff what to I do?"
    "Take her..." Home or hospital?  "Home."
    "Home." We  drove like mad through the street, towards our house. Jamie carried her imminently to to his bedroom and laid her down.
     "What's wrong?" Harry, Mom, Alex, and Evelyn rushed in. Evelyn wasn't living with us, but sometimes it felt like she was.
    "Cassie slipped..."
    "She pregnant!!" Mom shouted.
    "Yeah...we...."
    "She's pregnant!"
    "Going to tell....kinda forgot."
    "I'm going to be a grandma!" She hugged everyone twice, then turned to Cassie. "Is she okay?"
    "Yes. She is." Everyone turned to look at Cassie who was sitting up on the bad.
    "Cassie!" Jamie kissed her. "You're okay. The baby-"
    "Is fine. Thanks to his Daddy." She winked at Jamie. "Um...." She turned to look at the onlookers. "I'm kinda-"
    "Pregnant?" Mom filled in for her.
    "She's living with us. If that's ok-"
    "Of course." Harry replied. "She's family."
    Cassie sold her apartment and moved in with us. She and Jamie where planning on buying a home of their own, as soon as the baby was born and they had the money. It was nice having someone to hang out with. Cassie would stay in my room while Jamie worked, sitting on my bed as I sat at my desk. We'd chat about baby things, cribs (Mom and Harry bought Cassie, baby, and Jamie one as a gift), and names. Everything thing was pretty routine, until two days before Valentine's Day.
    "I came up with a name." Cassie shouted, excited.
    "What?"
    "James Jr."
    "Jame Jr? Like after Jamie?"
    "Yeah...what do you think?"
    "I like it." I smiled. I always thought it was kinda lazy if you named your kid after you....like you couldn't come up with anything better. Then again, Cassie was eight months, three weeks pregnant and had suffered head trauma.
    "Where's the bathroom?" I pointed to the door on the left side; the one that wasn't the exit. "Thanks." She tried getting off her back and onto her swollen feet. "Can you?"
    "Sure." I pulled her off the bed with her arms. She waddled to the restroom, in a way that reminded me of  penguin.
    "Hey." Jamie poked his head into my room. "Where's Cassie?" I pointed to the door again. "Hey, Tiff...I'm sorry....about what I said to you last week in the car."
     "It's fine. Don't worry...I was kinda bitchy."
     "Don't say that word."
     "Your baby isn't even born and you're already worried about people swearing around it. You're going to be a great dad."
    "Thanks."
    "JAMIE! OW GAW!" A scream irrupted from the bathroom. We both jumped up and ran to her. "Jamie Jamie Jamie!" She screamed again.
    "Cassie? What's wr-"
    "I'm in labor, you idiot!"
     "Labor?!" He panicked.
    "Get her to the hospital!" I screamed, panicking. They both rushed, or in Cassie's case waddled, to the car and zoomed away.
    "Cassie's in labor." I announced to the empty house. Alex was working and Mom and Harry where doing something hey refused to tell us about.
    "Labor?" A voice behind me asked, shocked.
    "Huh?"
    "Hey, silly." Evelyn walked up behind me.
    "Evelyn? What are you doing here?"
    "One of Alex's clients donated this weird relic collectible thing to him. He couldn't leave, so I drove it over here. It's in the back yard. Tiff, you haven't even unpacked!"She gestured to my backpack that I hadn't touched.
    "I will...."
    "No worries." She picked it up and dumped the dirty clothing into the hamper. She picked out the makeup bag and shuffled though it. "Tiff!" She exclaimed. "You sly dog you."
    "What?" She dumped the contents of the table. The makeup and everything else was there except the....oh. Because I'd used them when I slept with Francois.
    "Come on Ms. I-lost-my-virginity-with-a-hunky-French-dude. Who?"
   "Francois...."
   "Your boyfriend?"
   "Yeah..." I shifted around, uncomfortably looking for an excuse.
   "The old relic thing Alex got is in the backyard, if you want to go look at it."
   "Seems like a good enough distraction." I followed he rout of my room to the backyard. "Should we go to the hospital?"
    "It wouldn't hurt...but I'm just Alex's girlfriend. Does that make it awkward?"
    "We could either both go or both stay."
    "This is it." She dramatically gestured to the station.
    "It's an alchemy station!" I gasped, looking it over. "I could create an elixir to cure Francois, but I need..."
    "The Great One. Right?" She finished for me.
    "Yes."
    "You're in luck."
    "Are you besties with her and she owes you a favor?"
   "Not that lucky. I had a roommate who was a supplier to her."
   "Supplier?"
   "The Great One needs fairy dust to live. My roommate was a fairy. Bea, Beatrice is her name, wanted to become an alchemist. The Great One made an exception and taught her."
    "But?"
    "Bea will  give you some dust and you can trade for the spell."
    "But?"
    "No catch." Evelyn smiled. "Wait," She thought. "You know you'll have to gather the cure's ingredients and preform the spell yourself, right?"
    "I know...I'll practice." I heard the garage door open and we both turned to look at one another. "They're home."
    "I want a baby." Evelyn sighed, quietly. Quiet enough that I almost didn't hear her. We walked over to the garage and stopped. Cassie was holding a gorgeous baby boy. Jamie beamed next to her, with Mom, Harry, and Alex behind him.
    "Hey guys." Jamie said. "Meet James Jr."
    He was precious. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. I didn't want children until I was married and close to, or over, twenty-five. And I didn't want to be living with my parents still. Francois is an ocean away...and a zombie. I was no closer to having a family of my own then I was before I met Francois. I just had to change him back. Change him back. Change him into a human. I wanted a baby seven years from now...that seemed like eternity. Maybe just five. Five years...Not before Twenty-three. Married after twenty. Baby at twenty-three. Of course, Francois may have different plans...assuming he doesn't hate me for the whole zombie thing. What if he does? He wouldn't. Would he? No...I'm turning him back into human.


 Human boyfriend. Marriage. Baby girl. The plan seems so simple.Yet, there was no way I'd be able to know that life doesn't follow a plan until it was to late.

2.1: Love & Zombies

    WARNING: This may be a little PG-13

    "Flowers!" I gasped. "They're gorgeous."
    "I though that you might like zem."
    "I do." I smiled. We held hands and began walking to our scooters. "Will you tell me where we're going?"
    "You be surprised." He laughed for a moment, then said, "You Americans don't like surprises, oui?"
    "I like them...sometimes."
    "Sometimes?"
    "Yeah...when I know what they are." He began to chuckle.
    "That izn't a surprize then."
    "Exactly." I zoomed along the road a little faster.
    "Well, you like what we do." We pulled up in front of a winery and parked our scooters.
    "Um, I'm underage."
    "You're eighteen; an American adult, oui?"
    "Oui. But you have to be twenty-one...."
    "In America. It's dee-ferent in France. You're an adult. You can vote in America, enter zee military, drive, why does one suddenly become more mature at twenty-one? Alcohol ez okay, az long az you drink in limitation."
    "Okay." Ignoring the thought of my Mother scolding me. I was an adult. Besides, in France it wasn't illegal. We stepped inside and I gasped. This was the most bottle of wine I had seen together in one room.
    "It'z a lot, ezen't it?"
    "Oui." I nodded. We walked up to the counter. Francois began speaking in French to the lady, as I browsed for wines. I picked two of the finest bottles and paid for them.

    "Come." He said. "I show you zee surprise." I followed him into a room with an odd contraption in in. The walls where stone and cold, but Francois was warm. I leaned over to kiss him, as the heavy wine smell filled the room. As I pulled away, I noticed the grapes
sitting on the table. "Today, we make our own wine."
    "Okay." I smiled. He instructed me what to do. Put the grapes in the barrel and smash them with your feet. I tried doing it, but slipped and fell. I ended up stripping down to my swimsuit (Which 'd put underneath my clothing, in case we went to the waters) and smashing the fruit. As I turned my back, I could feel Francois's eyes follow my butt. Men. They're pretty much the same universal. "Hey." I turned around.
    "What?" He smiled, quickly looking up. But still not exactly at my eyes...more at my chest.
    "You need to help me." I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the vat of juice with me. We giggled like little children, as he slipped and fell, covering himself with grapes. I kissed him softly, pulling him out of the tub. We decided that our efforts where fruitless and that we could just buy a bottle of wine.
    Francois insisted on paying for the bottle. I poured it and we sat down together to drink.
    "Cheers." I said.
    "Cheers." He repeated, after me. The wine was delicious. It poured down my throat, into my stomach, giving me a warm sensation. I'm assuming it was the alcohol. We each had another glass, then decided to go back to my home and decide what to do next.
    "That was fun. Thanks." I sat on the bed and he sat on the chair.
    "We could go look at zee ruins, if yo
u wanted."
    "We could...." A sly smile spread across my face. "Or we could do something a little more fun." I gestured for him to stand up, which he did. I sat up and pulled him onto the bed.  I began kissing him.
    "It'z only zee second date. Don't you Americans have a policy?"
    "Third date, usually, but the only date I have tomorrow night is with an airplane. Wait." Is sighed. I stood up, and rummaged in my backpack. It was embarrassing tat Evelyn had assumed that I'd be doing exactly what I was doing and had packed protection. I handed it to him. A few seconds later, we were ready again. He slowly discarded my clothing, as I pulled his shirt off him top. I let him c
ome inside me, gently. He kissed my body, up and down, slowly. When we pulled away from each other and I sighed.
    "So..."
    "Are we official?" I asked.
    "Dating?" He asked. "I suppose....I'm not one for one night stands."
    "Neither am I."
    "I guess we're dating then," he replied.
    "Hand me your phone."
    "What?"
    "Your cell phone." He got up and walked over to the pile of clothing, picked it up, and handed it to me. I snapped a few explicit photos of myself and programmed my number in.
    "There." He wrote his number down for me, which I placed on the side table. Then I kissed him.  I took control of things again; let them me a lot rougher. "You don't have to be so gentle. I won't break." I whispered. As if my words where the key, he began doing exactly what I wanted. Rough. Aggressive. We trade places and I began kissing him. I turned onto my back and let him do all the work. When I turned around again, I hit my head on the bed post. "Bloody hell!" I screamed.
    "Tiff?" We pulled apart. I propped myself up, and looked at him.
    "I'm-I just hit my head." Regretting ruining the moment.
     "Do you need anything?"
    "No-" The pain seared through my brain. "Yes!" He put his shirt and boxers back on and exited the room, to the bathroom that was right
next to us. Nobody would see him anyway; it was one am. I heard screaming and someone being pushed into the wall. I sat up and ran into the hall way in my underwear. Francois was being attacked by a mutant creature. I tried pulling the thing off me, but it pushed me into the potted plant. I groaned and rubbed my bruised arm. I stood up again, when the vile thing bit Francois. "NO!" I screamed. Francois crumpled and began disappearing. I hit the creature again and again, until it accidentally rolled down the stairs and out the door. "No, no, no!" I cried.Was it really that bad? What we just did? Sure, the phone thing was awkward, but I was naked anyway, why not take some pictures? "Franc, please come back...I...dammit! I love you."
   A groan interrupted  me.
  "Francois?" I asked again, drying my tears. A mutant green creature that looked an awful lot like my boyfriend appeared.  Realization hit me. Full moon. Zombies. My brother told me legends, but I never believed him. Now I knew. And it was to late."I-I-we can work through this." I tried to take his rotting green hand and kiss his cheek, but he tried biting me.
    "Brrrrainnzzzz." His French-American accent still apparent.
    I ran into my room and locked the door. I threw myself onto the bed and cried. It was all my fault. If I had played good girl and been gentle, I wouldn't have hit my head.  He wouldn't have gone to get me an Advil and we'd probably still be making out with one another any have some wine. I cried myself to sleep; a vat of self-pity. I loved him. That's what I said. I suddenly wondered if it was true, or if it was a random though I said when I thought he was dead. No. It wasn't random. I was going to cure him. I had no idea zombies existed for real up until a few minutes ago, but I would fix it. I had to.
    In the morning I skipped breakfast; I  felt too depressed to shove another pastry into my mouth. I began asking around about zombies. Everyone's advice was to head to the bookstore and ask the owner. She had hundreds of books, all on different things. If someone had written a book about zombies and Paris (or the outskirts where I was staying) had ever heard of it, she'd have it.
    "Bonjour, um," I began an awkward conversation with the little French I knew.
    "I speak English, you know."
    "Oh. Really?"
    "It's impossible to run a shop in the tourist part of Paris and not. Too many people expect everyone to know their language; they don't learn ours." I made a mental not to learn French.
    "Do you have any books on zombies?" I asked.
    "Fictional or factual?"
    "Factual...my boyfriend..."
    "Is a zombie?" She guessed. "Full moon yesterday."
    "Yeah...."
    "Check upstairs or out by the front."
    "Thanks, madame." I walked upstairs and began to browse the titles. A mixture of French and English populated the shelves. Zombie 101: How Not to Be a Zombie in the Morning Wouldn't help me, nor would Les morts se lèvent which I assumed from the amount of pictures was a children's book of scary tales. I browsed and browsed, my efforts fruitless. Everything that  mentioned zombification didn't mention a cure. 
    "Whatcha looking for?" A lady with blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail asked.
    "Zombie cures."
    "Really?" She laughed, "Well if you're looking for zombies why not go to where they live?" She put air quotes around zombies.
    "Hey....that's a good idea. Thanks!" I ran out the door and hopped onto my scooter.
    "Wait! I was kidding! Zombies don't exist! I d-" Her screams faded as I rode away, to the grave yard. I parked and began looking around. I wasn't sure what to look for or who to talk to, but I figured the mausoleum and catacombs was a good guess. 
    I opened the door which let out a creek. The place had a musty smell. Bats flew past me, into the darkness. I walked deeper into the darkness, water occasionally dripping down on me. I used my iPhone as a flashlight. A chest covered in cob webs, spiders, and mold from the musty, dark, and wet place cover the wood, which was half rotted, was shoved into the farthest corner. The rusty metal look had a padlock the size of my fist on it, but looked useless. I bent down and pulled on the padlock. It was rusted, but solid. I didn't have a key, or lock picking supplies. The chest....was wood. Wood that's rotted. I stood up and kicked the chest. It collapsed into a pile of rot and metal. Nothing appeared to be in it...
     "Great!" I screamed, kicking a wall. Black soot rained down on me, making me angrier. Calm down. This is all in the name of love. I took a few deep breaths and began digging through the pile. A single old book rested at the bottom. 
     "Curses magiques à travers les âges: Magic Curses Through the Ages." I read the title of the worn, leather book. This had to be it. I stepped outside and began walking to a concrete bench. I flipped to the table of contents and read. Zombie Origins. Page one-ninety-seven. 
    During the French Revolution, magic was said to blossom. A great witch called La Puissante Sorcière; translated to The Powerful Witch began to rule. In English, she is often called The Great One. She cursed the souls who crossed her. Her most infamous curse was zombification; the rising of the dead and making them fight in battles and uprisings. 

    I flipped to the next page, scanning for the word cure. There it was.
    The only way to cure this is a spell. The Great One's female descendants are to train great witches the power of alchemy; a source of power for untrained witches and human folk. The soul searching for a cure must find fairy dust. She will give the dust to The Great One, the dust is her source of magic; a bond between creatures, who will create a scroll. On the scroll, she will give the instructions for the hex needed. You will have to gather the materials needed. 
    Not all witched need fairy dust, just The Great One to share spells. Many spells human folk can find themselves by practicing alchemy, but they will not be as strong as The Great One's spells and hexes. Few humans know of alchemy's power and assume it is children's lure. 
     Find The Great One. But first, find fairy dust. I have a felling that Kroger won't be selling it. I went home, showered, packed my bag, and went to the airport. I used my laptop during the flight to write a short romance novel about a girl who's boyfriend turns into a zombie. It's up to her to cure him. I researched The Great One after I finished writing. She appeared to be in America. I just didn't know which state or city. Alchemy tools where surprisingly easy to find. People regarded them as old relics that were collectables; not magic. I'd buy one at home.
  
    "Surprise!" Alex, Jamie, Mom, and Harry shouted when I walked inside. They had drinks and chips and dip and cake to celebrate my arrival home.
    "Thanks guys." I sat down.
    "Guys, can I tell you something? Cassie is-" Jamie said. Cassie. Perfect relationship. Something I didn't have. I felt the tears come as my face turned a splotchy red.

    "I need to go upstairs!" I ran upstairs,  tears flowing down my cheeks. I was depressed. Francois was a zombie. Everybody's love life was great except mine. Mom had Harry, we all knew Evelyn and Alex were going to tie the not; they just didn't realize it. Jamie had his  relationship with Cassie, that we assumed he'd ruin, since he was still stuck in high school jock mode....lately, though he's been acting like Alex. Sweet, kind; almost father like. And I haven't seen Cassie a ton lately, either. She always has doctor appointments or work....and she seemed to be suffering from weight gain. Strange... I should have put two and two together, but somehow I couldn't manage to. My thoughts were blurred.
    "Tiff?" Mom cried. I heard her knock on my door.
    "Go away." I mumbled. I curled up on my bed with my bottle of wine. I didn't drink any, I jst sat and stared. The wine Francois bought for me.....I got out my phone and texted him. I know he wouldn't read it in zombie mode, but it comforted me.
  
 I love you.
   

2.0: We're Gonna Go Adventuring

    "There." I finished brushing the blush onto my cheeks. I shifted uncomfortably in my tight, red lace dress. "This better be worth it." I mumbled. I snapped a picture and texted Evelyn, who'd come with me to her favorite boutique and picked out an array of outfits for me, including the one I wore, and lipsticks, mascara, blush, brushes, and eyeshadow. They were nice, but summery and impractical for a Bridgeport, New York November. My phone binged and I checked my messages.

Evelyn: Hot ;) Luv it
Tiff: Thanks :)  r u coming?
Evelyn: I can't
Tiff: Oh....
Evelyn: Come on! I's ur B-Day! I've got a surprise for u.
Tiff:  What is it?
Evelyn: U know I can't tell ya ;)
Tiff: Gtg...cake time

    I walked downstairs, pulling the lace hem of my skirt down. "Hey guys." I smiled.
    "Wow..." Mom whispered. "Tiff, you look so....grow up!"
    "Like it?" I asked, nervously.
    "Honey, I love it." She leaned over to hug me. "Now let's cut the cake!"

    "Happy birthday  to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Tiff and Jamie. Happy birthday to you." Cassie, Alex, Harry, and mom all sang, or a more accurate term, screeched. Jamie and I leaned over our cakes and blew out the candles. I wish....I wish I'll find love. Somebody to love me. Who's preferably French. Happiness. Love. Writing poetry at French cafes while sipping lattes with m
y boyfriend. Then he'll lean over, and whisper in my ear 'I love you' and when he pulls away, they'll be a ring....and we'll be married at dusk, under the shining stars and Eiffel Tower in the background, as the world turns from pastel pinks and oranges to crisp blues and shining violets.  Becoming a famed author, traveling the world publicizing my novels. My husband by my side....

    "Tiff. Tiffani?" Harry asked, whipping me from my fantasy.
    "Hmm? What?"
    "Would you like some cake?"
    "Sure." He served me a slice of raspberry vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting.
    "Jamie?"
    "No way, dude. Abs and cake? Dude come on."
    "Jamie." Mother snapped. Lately Jamie had transformed into stuck up Jock guy. We'd graduated a few months ago and he still acted like he ruled the school, with Ms. Cheerleader Cassie Carols hanging onto his arm and other parts of his anatomy. They were extremely public with acts of intimacy...a disgusting fact that I had to go to a shrink to erase the memory of.
    "Whatever." He got up and went over to the living room and began banging on the drum set Mom and Dad bought him for his birthday.
     "Drummers are sooo hot!" Cassie squealed,  grabbing onto him and kissing him.
     "Guys! PDA!" I yelled. Seeing my best friend shove my brother's tongue...and other part of his anatomy..I might need to go back to that shrink..down her throat was emotionally and mentally scarring. Needless to say, Cassie and I were drifting apart; we were just old friends. Not besties. Not BFFs. Not even friends even, really. Just people who used to be.
    "And Tiff," Alex smiled. "Your surprise is upstairs."
    "Oh boy! Oh boy! Is it a pony?" I mimicked a little kid.
    "Come on." Mom smiled, as we all stood up and walked up the stairs except to my room. All of us except Jamie and Cassie who had locked themselves in the bathroom. I heard the shower running.  I stepped into my room and gasped. Evelyn was standing there, with her guitar. Next to her was a mini Eiffel Tower.
    "Guys! I love it."
    "We haven't even given you the present yet." Alex said.
    "Oh." I blushed. Then Evelyn began singing,
    "We're gonna go adventuring. Oh oh oh, we're gonna go adventuring. From Rome to Spain and back again,  my heart travels with you. Oh oh oh. We're gonna go, we're gonna go, woah-oh-oh. Don't call know, I'm adventuring." She sand, strumming her guitar. Then the French verse came, "On va partir à l'aventure. Oh oh oh, on va partir à l'aventure. De Rome à l'Espagne et à nouveau, mon cœur se déplace avec vous. Oh oh oh. On va aller, on va aller, woah-oh-oh. N'appelez pas savoir, je suis aventure."
    "Great-"
    "We aren't done yet." Evelyn smiled.
    "We aren't?"
    "Here." Harry gave me the Eiffel Tower figurine and an envelope. I ripped open the envelope. They say money can't buy happiness, but it can buy last minute first class tickets to Paris. And aren't those the same things?
    "Oh mi-" I gasped, holding back tears of joy. I was utterly, totally shocked."Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I gasped, hugging everyone in the room at least twice.
    "We booked you a room at a hotel for three nights. You leave at three tonight and have a flight home Wednesday at nine p.m." Harry explained.
    "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Wait, today? Like today Sunday, today?"
    "Yeah." Mom nodded. "Alex, Harry can you help me clean up the cake?"
    "Sure."
    "Of course." The trio wandered out of the room, down the stairs.
    "Here." Evelyn handed me the polka dotted turquoise back pack I'd used back in high school. "I packed everything you need ." She winked.
    "Thanks." I rifled through my bag quickly. All the clothing I'd bought earlier was there, plus a little cosmetics bag. I unzipped the cosmetics bag and looked through it. All the makeup I'd bought, toothbrush, toothpaste, mini shampoo bottle, soap, lotion, a hair brush, and con- "Evelyn!"
    "What?" She asked, innocently enough.
    "I don't need-you packed-cond-Evelyn!"
    "What? It's the City of Love. Figured you'd be making a little. 'Sides unless you want to be a teen mom, figured you'd need protection for him."
    "Evelyn...." It was impossible to be mad at her.
    "Come on. It's one-thirty!" She gasped. "We need to get you to the airport." I rushe
d through hugs and goodbyes and found myself standing in the snow waiting for the taxi to JFK to come.

    I sighed a sigh of relief; made it to the plane, on time. First class really was a treat. I know you aren't suppose to think about money when marrying, but I'm really glad that Mom married a retired superstar and not a hobo....not that I wouldn't be happy that she's happy, but having money is nice. Living with the threat of eviction and unpaid bills isn't a lifestyle that I'd advise. With all that Harry had, I was set for life. I took out my laptop and began working on my novel. Words flowed through my fingertips like blood. I finished the novel, requested a drink, then fell asleep. A long, dreamless sleep.
    "We will be landing in Paris, France shortly." A voice over the loud speaker chimed. "Please," she listed the procedures we all knew, but had to be told a thousand times. Excited, I looked out the window. Dawn. We'd arrived at five a.m., whatever the Parisian time zone was. I assume it made sense. A flight from New York to Paris took about seven hours and they were seven hours ahead. So it was like I'd left at ten p.m. Paris time from the States and traveled seven hours.

    I checked into the hotel, took my room key and crashed onto the bed. I was tired. I was in Paris. Paris, France! Twenty-four hours ago, I had no idea what was ahead for me, nor did I know that the day was going to be that crazy. Best birthday gift ever. Paris.....
    "Beep! Beep!" My iPhone began ringing. I groggily sat up. It was eight o'clock. I'd slept les than three hours. But I did have a nap on the plane. Besides, Paris! That by itself was a good enough reason to get up. I showered and got dressed quickly and went downstairs. Groggy tourists where eating breakfast, in their tourist-y sneakers and hats, with cameras strapped around their necks. I had none of that. I decided that a walk in the Parisian sun would be better than talking to a group of  people who, judging by their accents, where from the American South. Also the tee shirts that had a peach on them and Georgia written underneath helped my assumption.

    I wandered the streets, loving everything. The weather was so much better than New York. Gorgeous, scenic views. Crisp, clean air that wasn't the smoggy mess I lived near. And the accents! Paris beats the Brooklyn accents any day.  A little shop with a little sign that said Alexis's Relics was to my right. I ducked in and began to browse. Figurines, jars, knick knacks, and vases lined the walls and filled the shop to the brim. I picked up a pla
in, golden vase and glanced at the price. I had plenty of Euros; I could easily buy the vase, but it was still extremely expensive. Mom would like it. Besides, I can always sell it for a pretty penny, or whatever the European penny is, and buy something else if I found something that I liked better.
    "Ah, Mademoiselle. You're eyes shine, like zee sun." 
    "Thanks. I just want to buy this vase. Acheter relique. That means buy relic, right?" I thought back to my sophomore French classes.
    "But, of course. Or. Comment parfait pour une dame de votre classe."
    "What?"
    "You speak French, oui?"
    "Minimally....New York didn't care much for that language. They cut the class the second semester I took it and replaced it with Spanish."  
   "Honteux, ils devraient être. Ashamed they should be! "
    "Yeah, well...can I just buy this?" 
    "Oui." I handed him the Euros and he handed me the vase again. He began flirting like mad, which was quiet creepy.
    "Look....old are you?"
    "Quarante-sept. Forty-seven." 
    "Older than my MOM! Buh-bye." I slipped the vase in my backpack. I began causally strolling the streets again. My stomach began grumbling, so I ducked into The Catania Cafe.
    "Fromage danois, s'il vous plaît." I ordered a cheese danish. France was magnificent....if you forgot Mr. Creepy. I can look past that, though. You can't stereotype a country based on one person. I hadn't even seen anything that was a landmark or famous and I still loved the country. There was a great museum here, I just had no idea where to go. I walked outside to the Town

   Square and plopped down on the bench, next to a handsome French blonde. I pulled the guide book out of my backpack and flipped to the Tourist Attractions section. La Gallerie d'Art. The directions where nonexistent, but the history of the place was six pages long.

    "Excuse me," I asked the handsome stranger.
    "Oui?" He asked.
    "Parlez-vous anglais?" Do you speak English?
    "Oui. Yes." He had a slight American accent, along with his sexy French accent.
    "I'm looking for-" I stumbled. He caught me. Our eyes met. Electricity. Sparks. I wanted to kiss him so badly.  "The La Gallerie d'Art."
    "I know the way. It's," he began telling me the directions.
    "Will you go with me?" 
    "Like, how you zay, a date?"
    "Yes. Wait, no! No. Well....I mean do you-I just, bad with directions." I blushed.
    "I tease." He laughed. "Zeis isn't a date. I show you real date."
    "Uh,"
    "I tease. You Americans. Vhat's your name?"
    "Tiff."
     "Ah, Tiff. Where are you from?"
     "New York."
     "New York. The city?"
     "Bridgeport. It's pretty big, but smaller than NYC."
     "NYC....ah the people, the places. I studied in America at university." 
     "Really? When?"
     "I was there two years; abroad. I''ve been back about half a year. I graduated know, you see."
     "So you're...I calculated his age. Twenty-two? Twenty-three?"
     "Twenty-one. I went to university at seventeen. How old are you?"
     "Eighteen."
     "Shall we go?"
     "Of course." I rented a scooter and he used the one he owned. Sweet, handsome, smart, French. He met all the standards for guys I can fall for. It suddenly occurred to me  that I had no idea what his name was. I liked him a lot, and I think he liked me, but I had no idea what his name was. I parked next to him and hoped off my scooter. "What's your name?" 
    "Francois. Francois Bonaparle."
    "Nice name."
    "Thank you."
    We stepped inside the museum. Francois insisted that he pay for me, as well as himself.  The art was breathtaking. We walked through rows of Chinese statues, Egyptians gold, and French sculptures and paintings. Lastly, we reached the Greek section. I stared up at the statues, mystified. Somebody did this. Someone actually created a statue out of nothing but a hunk of marble. I never think that I could do that...but somehow I can create a novel out of nothing but ink and paper. Or fingers and a keyboard, if you want accurate. 
    "Amazing, oui?"
    "Oui. It's...somebody did this. Without  modern tools. I just...it seems crazy."
    "Ah, but craziness is love, oui? If zee man loved hez art, he could do crazy. Love makes zee crazy." 
    "Love makes you crazy..." I pondered. Love makes you crazy. I suddenly wanted to fall in love to find out if it was true or not.
    "Museum's closing." A security guard walked past, ruining the moment. "Everybody out."  We strolled out. The sky had turned a dark navy blue, with silver beams of stars. 
    "Thank you...we should.....again sometime."
    "When you leave?"
    "Wednesday night." 
    "Tomorrow then? We can call it a real date. I can pick you up at, say, eleven? Are you staying at the hotel?"
    "Yes. A real date...I don't know, this seemed like a pretty good first date."
    "Well, we French men know how to treat a lady."
    "You do." I leaned over to him and kissed his lips. They were cold and soft. "You do." I whispered. I turned away, leaving him in shock. I hopped on my scooter and began driving back to the hotel. He stood there, dazed. 
    "Tiff. Don't leave." I heard his soft whisper in the breeze. I wanted to g o running into his arms, but I used all the courage I had to kiss him. He was a great kisser. Tomorrow  I'd see him tomorrow. Tomorrow.  I wish it was tomorrow already.