*5 hours earlier*

The shrill beep of Zed's alarm clock let him know that his headache from the night before was still kicking. He shut off the alarm and groaned as he tried to work up the energy to get out of bed.

The only thing that got him out of the warmth of his covers was the sounds coming from Zoey's bedroom down the hall as she got ready for school. He could hear her singing softly and knew that meant that she was brushing her hair.

Zed fought off shivers as he got out of bed and made his way downstairs. He decided to make scrambled eggs and cauliflower because it was easy and not very labor intensive. He had just finished when Zoey came hopping down the stairs, Puppy right on her heels. She stopped in the doorway and gave him a serious look.

"I'm okay, Zoey," Zed assured her before she got a chance to ask.

"You don't look any better," She commented as she sat down. Zed put some eggs on her plate and sat down next to her. "Addison said you are taking the day off of school."

"Yeah, she's pretty convincing," Zed said with a smile. "Plus I could use the sleep."

"Yes, you could," Zoey said in her endearingly honest way. "Addison told me to make sure to tuck you back into bed before I leave."

"Oh, she did, did she?" Zed asked, even though he had heard the conversation between his girlfriend and his sister the night before. Zombie houses were not built very well and sound carried easily through the thin walls. "Think you're up to the task?"

"Of course, I bet I can be better than dad, maybe even you," She responded.

"You think I'm better than dad?" Zed asked, incredibly touched.

"Yep, you tell better stories," Zoey said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Okay, well eat up and then you can tuck me in with a story of your own," Zed said with a laugh. He smiled even wider when Zoey immediately began shoving food into her mouth. Zed might feel lousy, but his little sister always managed to make him feel a bit better.

They finished up the breakfast and true to her word, Zoey tucked Zed into bed with a story. She made sure his bed was piled high with practically every blanket in the house and then she hopped up to sit next to him. Zed tried to listen as Zoey told him a story about some drama between her classmates, but there was a lot of different characters involved and his head was hurting too much to follow along. Luckily, Zoey didn't notice his lack of comprehension.

"Um, Zoe?" Zed finally cut in, sorry to interrupt her animated talking. "I am absolutely loving this story, but you have to head to school now. How about we finish this story later tonight?"

"Okay!" Zoey said enthusiastically. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and then jumped off of his bed. "See you later Zed, have a good sleep."

Zoey ran out of the door and Zed smiled as he listened to her run down the stairs and out the door. He really did love his enthusiastic little sister.

Once Zoey was gone, Zed took out his phone and pulled up the number for the school secretary that Addison had sent to him that morning. Taking a deep breath, he dialed the number.

"Hello, you've reached Seabrook High, how can I help you?"

"Yes, hello," Zed said, making his voice deep so it sounded like his father's. "This is Zevon Necrodopolous, I'm calling to let you know that my son, Zed, won't be in school because he has an appointment to get his new Z-Band tested and checked over." Zed tried to make his voice as no-nonsense as possible.

"That's quite alright Mr. Necrodopolous, will Zed be joining us later in the day?"

"Umm," Zed hesitated, unprepared for this question.

"What time's his appointment," The secretary prompted.

"9 am," Zed said the first time that popped into his head. He immediately wished that he'd said it was later in the day.

"And how long does this appointment usually last? One hour? two hours?" The woman's high-pitched, cheery voice was hurting his head and making it hard to think.

"It's actually more like three hours," Zed said, trying to buy some more time for himself. It hadn't occurred to me that the appointment excuse wasn't an all-day excuse.

"Okay, we look forward to seeing Zed around lunchtime," the secretary said in the same annoyingly chipper voice.

"Sounds good," Zed responded, even though it sounded anything but. He hung up the phone and sighed loudly. That could've gone better, but at least this way he could still get a few extra hours of sleep, plus he could still go to baseball practice.

Zed set the alarm on his phone and then pulled the blankets tight around him, shivering despite the number of them.

It didn't take him long to fall back asleep.

If Zed had been hoping to feel better the second time he woke up, he was sadly disappointed. In fact, he felt even worse than he had a few hours ago. He sat up and was assaulted with a wave of dizziness. He held onto his aching head and waited for it to pass.

"Ugh," Zed groaned as he stood up slowly. He seriously considered just skipping school and going back to bed, but he was already on thin ice for hacking his Z Band and endangering the students at the school. He didn't want to get into any more trouble. Zed thought about texting Addy about his predicament but decided that she would probably just insist that he stay home despite the consequences.

Resigned to the fact that the day would most likely be miserable, Zed went through the motions of getting himself ready for school.

The process took him longer than it normally did, so by the time he stumbled into school, the lunch period had already started.

He went to the office to sign in and was greeted by the same loud and cheery secretary he'd spoken to on the phone.

"Oh Zed, so glad you made it!" She said with a smile. Zed attempted to return her smile and walked over to the desk. "Honey, you aren't looking so good," She said, her smile turning into a concerned frown.

"Yeah, they just put me through some tests that really take it out of me," Zed responded, realizing that he should've tried to use that excuse earlier to stay home.

"Sorry to hear that sweetie, but at least you only have a few hours of school left and then you can go home and rest," She said, her bright smile once again on her face.

"Right," Zed said in a monotone. The woman didn't seem to notice his unenthusiasm as she handed him a clipboard.

"Just write your name, student number, and the reason for tardiness here and you will be good to go."

Zed did as he was asked and then walked out of the office, giving a wave when the woman bade him a happy goodbye.

Zed made his way through the halls without his usual energy. He normally loved coming to school and walking through the halls and greeting the now familiar and friendly faces. Today, however, he felt so miserable that the smiles and waves did little to improve his mood.

The only thing that lifted his spirits slightly was when he walked into the cafeteria and caught sight of Addison's white hair. He took a few deep breaths at the entrance of the cafeteria and attempted to fix a smile on his face. Addison's back was to him, so he was able to sneak up next to her and sit down.

"Zed!" She yelled, eyes wide. He tried to hold back the wince at her loud voice, but he could tell he hadn't succeeded when her eyes widen further and she continued in a softer voice. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," He said with a sigh.

A/N

Thank you so much to everyone who has read this and for those of you who have commented! That really makes my day.

Fun fact: I currently have the flu, so I am getting a lot of inspiration for this fic :-D

There is some excitement coming up in the next chapter, so get pumped for that!