ZOM · BOY !

who   killed   leighton   bailey   ?

[zomboye]

bornfate​:

     “   no — ?  then start talking,  ‘cause it  looks like  you just turned somebody into hamburger meat.   ”

YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO,          but you had problems with it when you were alive,     and even more problems after you    died.          you stutter and halt and sometimes stop altogether without meaning to.          start talking,     he says.          okay.          “          that––wasn’t,    me.          it was  ...    my evil––twin,    or something.          i have  ...    a project––due.          tomorrow.          i’m––failing,    anatomy.          whatever––my  ...    twin does––in  ...    his  ...    spare time,    isn’t.          my business.           ”

[zomboye]

         “          THIS ISN’T  ...     what it––looks like  ...          ”          @bornfate

[vesuvsinity]

♡◟(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ)

[zomboye]

zomgene​:

“        SO  YOU  RODE  THE  BUS ?        ”      see,   it’s funny,   because his sister hooks up with   everyone.      “        ohhh.     eddie.     dude,   i copped from him before,  you were literally right there.     we gotta make you some    flash cards    or somethin’.     hey,   you ‘member that time i stole your mattress ‘cause you had your bigass clown shoes on again   —   ?     i’ll take hers too.     tell me i won’t.     bet me five bucks i won’t.        ”

YOU LEVEL HIM WITH AN UNAMUSED GLOWER,          all heavy-lidded and frowning like a child.          nothing out of the ordinary for you,    living dead boy.          “          you’re––not  ...    funny,    mateo.          she hasn’t  ...    slept with––that many,    boys.          ”          eddie.          your neighbor,    eddie,    who knocked on the door one sunday morning when lonny was on another one of his rampages,    who asked if everything was alright,    who got the door shut in his face and locked and never knocked again.          eddie who almost   died   the night that you did,    on the steps of his own property.          the freak.          “          him.          s––ure.          you,    stole my––mattress,    because––you’re a jerk.          i lost  ...    my––clown shoes,    that day.          if you––steal  ...    her mattress,    she’ll probably  ...    just take mine––instead.          then,    i’ll have to––eat her,    or something  ...    as payback.          ”

[zomboye]

boyomen​:

     “   …   what   the fuck’d you just say   —   ?   ”    you don’t turn to face him,  but you stop walking as abruptly as if he’d yanked an invisible leash.  power lines hum above you,  so loud you can   feel   the voltage.   your chest hurts,  like someone had buried an   ice pick   in the middle of your sternum.  this isn’t fair.  it’s a   childish   thing to think,  but that’s how you feel,  like a child:  like you want to stamp your feet and ball your fists and   scream   about how unfair this is.  when you swallow,  it’s sharp as glass.    “   don’t tell me that shit.  you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.   ”

MAYBE HE’S RIGHT AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE MEANS.            you only know what it means because of mateo,    because you know you love him and you think maybe a part of you loves him    too    much.          lennon knows this and that’s why he’s mad.          you would be mad at you,    too.          and you are.          but you don’t love mateo like this.          it doesn’t burn like this,    it doesn’t    ache in your chest    like this and feel like you’re ripping apart at the seams and stitches holding you together like this.          you miss him so bad it hurts down to your bones.          you haven’t felt physical pain in so long,    you    almost    forgot what it was like    ––    but now you remember.      you aren’t sure what possesses you to step in front of him,    to face him so bold and brave,    but you do it.          “          you,    feel it––too.          i know  ...    you do.          you don’t––kiss,    somebody  ...    like that––when you don’t.          stop lying  ...    to yourself.          stop lying to me.          i––miss you,    lenn.          ”

[zomboye]

boyomen​:

     “  ‘m not doing this.  you  did this.  ”    you keep walking, and your strides are longer than his.   good   and   happy   are just words without weight, and you were stupid to think otherwise.    “  go home, leighton. fuck.  ”

HE ISN’T WRONG.          you did this.          you always do.          you almost slow to a halt,    but something keeps you going.          some kind of drive,    a perseverance you never knew you had.          you were a living thing once and now you’re just a    dead thing walking,    which is fine,    because you’re used to that.          walking.          lumbering around.          “          n––o.     i didn’t  ...    do this.          you did.          you––broke up  ...    with me,    and it’s––stupid.          you’re  ...    stupid.          and you––make it,    hard  ...    so hard––to,    love you––but i do.          i do.          why won’t,    you just  ...    let me?          ”

[zomboye]

boyomen·:

     you don’t even break stride.    “  nope.  ”

     YOU FALL INTO PACE BEHIND HIM,          but it isn’t easy.          “          lennon––please.          wait.          i don’t  ...    get it.           we were––good,    you seemed  ...    happy,    for once.           don’t do this.          ”

[zomgene]

@zomboye​ stays trifling 

[zomboye]

[jeremy-white]

crying for him.

[zomboye]

          “          WILL YOU  ...     talk––to me.          please?          ”          @boyomen

[zomboye]

mateo: being leighton's personal jester is a full time job but im nothing if not dedicated to my work

[zomboye]

diedheroes​:

     in his own roundabout way, max realizes, he’s actually trying to relate. if there was any mockery in any of it, she’d have turned on him already.  cool  is better than  annoying.   “ —  yeah. trust me, i get it. billy’s just billy. nobody’s family is perfect, and if they  tell  you they are, then they’re lying. so you guys’ve lived here your whole lives?  god,  that must suck. ”

YOU LIVED HERE AND YOU DIED HERE AND THAT’S WHAT SUCKS THE MOST.          maybe it was just a cruel twist of fate the night you prophesied    your own death    to mateo.     i’ll never leave this town,    you said.     i’m going to die here.     maybe you should have just kept your mouth shut like you always do and you would have    lived.     maybe this is just wishful thinking on your part.          “          y––eah.     but it’s,    not so––bad...    if you,    like––mild weather and,    boring  ...    everything else.          ”          you drag your gaze away from her just in time to see the board slide out from under mateo’s feet.      boring everything else,    except him.           “          you know  ...    the worst part––isn’t,    living here.     it’s that  ...    you can never––leave.     not forever.     some––thing always  ...    brings you back.     that’s what sucks.          ”

[zomboye]

diedheroes​:

     “ did you just call me  crazy? ”   ironic, but all she does is roll her eyes and take a swig from her water bottle.   “ whatever, yeah, he’s good. i’m better. you can tell him the next time he gets in front of me like that, i’m knocking him on his ass. and your brother sounds like a  dick,  by the way. no offense. ”

“          YEAH.          you have,    a mean––brother,    and you’re  ...    a loner.     that makes you  ...    crazy.     at least...    that’s what––people  ...    say,    about me.     except––i think,    what people  ...    say about me,    is worse.     i think you’re––cool.          ”          burial or cremation,  leighton bailey?  because mateo is going to kill you this.      “          you can––tell him that.     i’m a  ..    bad messenger,    if you––couldn’t tell.          ”          you’re alluding to your speech patterns.     it was never the best,    but it’s been worse since you died.          “          he isn’t.     he’s––just lonny.     but,   that’s why––i tell everyone,   to leave  ...   him alone.          ”

[zomboye]

diedheroes​:

     “  …  okay? wait, you  —  didn’t seriously think i was  interested,  right? um, i’m from california, so  —  ? kinda thought i was the only one in this shitty town who could actually skate. aren’t  you guys  a thing? ”

“          WHAT?          n––o.     no.      are all  ...    people,    from cali––fornia    crazy?     or are you––just the special,    kind of crazy?     he skates good.     i think he  ...    kick-flipped.     out of the womb,    or something.     he’s my best friend.     since kindergarten,    when my brother  ...    pushed me,    off the porch.     he asked––about my knees.     we’re still,    not a th––ing.     i have  ...    standards.           ”          lying through your teeth,     zomboy?

[isxev]

[zomboye]

“          HE’S...     SO––STUPID.          i’m  ...    pretty sure,    he––only has,    one brain cell.     he smokes––a lot of,    weed.     also.     he  ...    likes you.     i think.     but––i  ...    didn’t,    tell you  ...    that.          ”          @diedheroes    for max.

[zomboye]

diedheroes​:

     ‘idiot’ about covers it, but one glance to mimic his, one glance at the reaction, and eddie knows it’s a term of  endearment.  the kid is putting on a whole performance on the other side of that window. miming, making faces, gliding back and forth in varying poses on what’s presumably his skateboard. decrepit old mrs. buckman must be out of the room, then; no way would she let it slide otherwise, no pun intended. eddie actually catches himself getting  invested  in the chaos before leighton’s talking again.   “ what? oh, uh  — ”   right. car crash, traumatic head injury. really fucked with him.  that’s the story,  anyway.   “ no, no, don’t worry, i drive like a dream. speed limit all the way, totally. i promise. ”   just because it’s a complete lie doesn’t mean he won’t make an effort.   “ but hey, y’know, if you’d rather wait for your buddy, that’s cool. just say the word ‘n i’ll walk away. ”

YOU NEVER UNDERSTOOD THIS ABOUT MATEO.          his carefree spirit always puzzled you even before you were this    dead boy walking.          it puzzles you more    now,    because instead of looking at you like something    flesh - eating    and grotesque    (    that in which you are,    )    he still looks at you from across the room or through a window passing by on a skateboard or standing right next to you and tries to make you smile.          you never understood,    but maybe you never had to.          an adjustment of the backpack that weighs down like a sack of bricks on your shoulder,    then you look at him.          really look at him.          your eyes are cold and dead as a corpse and you wonder if he notices that the way mateo would.          “          no.          it’s––o  ...    kay.          he’s gonna,    be there––for a  ...    while,    so.          i’m cool with––it.          just  ...    don’t,    let.    my sister––see,    you.          she might,    actually  ...    snap my neck––or something.          ”           this is your way of telling him:    you know.