She walked into theclassroom and noticedthat there wasn'tanybody there. Tables and chairs were turned over, trashthrown on the floor, and blood spots splattered all over theroom. She slowly made her way over to the window where thelight beamed through. People were running across campus,and some she noticed were walking very slow, dragging theirfeet, with matted hair and torn clothes.

She turned and looked toward the door when she heard anoise come from the hall. Ducking down, she made her wayto the front of the class to the teacher's desk. Someone enteredthe classroom as she crawled under the desk. She peekedaround the side of the desk and was amazed at what she saw.It was a young girl. Her breathing was gruff, her hair andclothes were messy with blood, and her clothes were full ofholes. The girl walked around the room for a while, then shefinally made her way to the door and left the room.

She got out from under the table and looked out the door.The young girl walked down the hall and entered anotherroom. She knew this was her chance to get out of there. Sheran down the stairs to the first floor. These zombies were allover the place. She saw the entrance at the end of the hall, soshe made a run for it. As she was running, she felt like she wasin slow motion. The hallway kept stretching longer and longer,with zombies coming out from all directions. They all reachedout to grab her shirt and pants as she vigorously kept her eyeon the door. Just as she approached the door, zombies cameout from nowhere and grabbed her. She opened her mouth toscream but didn't hear anything come out.

Xyla quickly sat up in her bed, crying, wiping the tearsfrom her face. Relief came over her when she realized it wasjust a dream. She got out of bed and went into the bathroomto splash water on her face.

"Why do I keep dreaming about zombies?" she askedherself, looking in the mirror. Walking back into the room,she noticed the clock said 1:50 a.m., so it was off to bed for afew more hours.

The alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. She got out of bed andlooked out the window; you could see the sun just startingto come up off in the distance. She threw on some blue jeanshorts and a yellow tank top and headed downstairs to see ifher dad was up. John was sitting in the living room on hisfavorite recliner, drinking his coffee, while watching the news.

"Morning, sunshine," John said, "where are you off to soearly this morning?"

"Morning, Daddy. It looks like it's going to be a nice day,so I figured I would take a walk on the beach. I'll grab me acoffee on my way," she said, kissing the top of his head.

On her way to the beach, she stopped at the closestconvenience store to grab a coffee. She pulled into the parkingarea at the beach, found a spot to park the car, and got outwith coffee in hand and headed to the sand.

A smile came on her face as she looked back in time. Hermother used to take her here at this time in the morningduring the weekends when she was a little girl. With a coffeein her mother's hand and a hot chocolate in her hand, theywould sit on the sand and watch the sun rise.

"Shh, can you hear the sun hitting the water?" her motherwould ask.

"I can hear it, Mother," Xyla would say, smiling.

"You are as beautiful as the sun, my dear Xyla," her motherbragged. Xyla was her world.

Tears came to Xyla's eyes; she missed her mother so muchit hurt.

Then her thoughts wrapped up to the present day.

"I hope going to America will be prosperous for me," shesaid to herself.

The waves came splashing in; she smiled and then took adeep breath with the satisfaction that somehow this was theright decision.

Xyla Rose, with her long blonde hair and natural, lightbrown highlights, walked toward the water. With sandals inher hand, and showing a very nice tan says that she spendsa lot of time at the beach. She was very thin, at age twenty-five,single, with only her father, John, at home. Her mother,Katerzyna, had passed away a few years ago, due to cancer.That is what caused Xyla to commit her all to the study ofscience. She wants to make a difference in the world.

This was the most perfect opportunity of a lifetime; shedid not want to pass this up. She had been offered an assistantprofessor of science position in America. Her father, John, toldher to go and make that difference.

She left the beach and went into town. Walking the streetsthat afternoon, she wanted to make sure she would rememberevery store, restaurant, and neighbor. As she walked along, shemet up with some college friends. Just a few friends she hadclasses with.

Suezanna, the baby of the six of them, at twenty-two,with brown eyes and black hair, was with her fiancé, Bradley.Bradley is twenty-three, and he, like Suezanna, has black hair.They are a jeans-and-T-shirt kind of couple. Their T-shirtsalways promote rock bands. With them was Tim; he is alsotwenty-three. He has blue eyes and short blonde hair. He'sthe quiet one out of the bunch. You will always see him injeans with a nice shirt, sometimes even a tie. Noelle, who isalso twenty-three, has long brown hair, has hazel eyes, anddresses casually. She also has a dream of becoming a professor.And last is Tayt. He is twenty-five with short brown hairand blue eyes. He dresses casual and is in love with Xyla. Hetries his best daily to make an impression on her, but she isso dedicated to her work she doesn't even realize what Tayt'sintentions are. He hopes that someday they will be a couple.

After their hellos, they all decided to meet up later thatevening at the Coach House Hotel for a bite to eat and afew drinks before Xyla goes to America. It was a Thursdayevening, and she was leaving Sunday afternoon. They decidedto meet at seven o'clock that evening.

The college she is going to in America starts their semesterin a week, so she needs to get settled in ASAP. Summer wasending for her, and being a student in college was just an endto one chapter in her life, and she was starting to embark onanother chapter. Only this time everything she learned in herclasses was going to be put to the test as an assistant. Was sheready for this?

Xyla got home and made steak and potatoes for her dad;it was his favorite. As they ate, they discussed her going toAmerica. He is a typical father and wants to make sure she isgoing to be okay. With no family or friends with her, it can getlonely. She assured him that she will be fine. Then they talkedabout her going out that evening with some friends.

John mentioned, "That Tayt is a nice fellow."

Xyla replied, "Yes, he is. I'm going to miss all my friends."

As her dad got up to get something, he said, "Keep yourphone with you and turned on at all times, and also, here's anew laptop with a camera as a going-away present. We cantalk anytime. I bought me one too so we can chat." Her dadsmiled.

She started crying. As she wiped her tears, she gave herdad a kiss on the cheek and a hug and said, "I love you, Dad."Now it was clean-up time.

Up in her room, she put on some soft music and startedgetting ready for her outing that night with her friends. Shestraightened her hair and pulled each side back in a clip. Thenshe decided to put a curl at the ends. Next was what to wear.She wanted to be comfortable but nice. She decided on a babyblue miniskirt and a white blouse, a medium-sized danglinghoop earrings, an anklet, and her favorite cameo ring from hermother, which accented the attire. She threw on some highheels to complete the outfit. A little foundation, eyeliner, andeye shadow always gave her a natural look when she applied itreally lightly. Just as she was leaving her room, her phone rang.

"Hello," she said, picking it up.

"Do you need a ride?" Tayt asked.

She answered, "Well, I'm ready to walk out the door. Areyou close?"

Chuckling, he said, "Kinda, I'm outside in your driveway."

"I'm coming out the door now," she said, laughing.

As she came down the stairs, her dad was falling asleep inhis chair. She kissed his cheek and said her good night.

Of course he woke up and told her to have a good timeand be safe.

She grabbed her little clutch bag on the table by the frontdoor and headed to Tayt's car. He got out and came around toopen the passenger door for her. She got in and buckled herseat belt; Tayt came around and got in the driver's seat. Heturned on his radio; he listens to jazz sometimes. They madesmall talk on the way to the club.

"I hate for you to go to America by yourself," Tayt said.

"I'm going to be fine," she said. "This is what I want, it'swhat I've been studying to do my whole life. Of course, I'mgoing to miss everyone here, but I'm so excited at the sametime."

Tayt, still concerned, said, "Well, if you ever needanything, please don't hesitate to call me, okay?"

"You have my word," she said with a smile of assurance.

They pulled up to the club and parked in the rear parkingarea. As they entered, Suezanna, Bradley, Noelle, and Timwere already waiting at a table. It was a good thing they wereall there holding a table. The place was pretty crowded. Theyall had a jump start on drinks. Tayt and Xyla sat with themand ordered their drinks. Tayt was a beer drinker, and Xylaliked her vodka-Bay Breeze was her favorite. Tim decidedto get a round of shots. Everyone downed Spiced Rum! Theywere all feeling pretty good at this point.

The band played a soft slow song. Tayt looked at Xyla andasked if she wanted to dance. She nodded her head yes. As shetried walking away, she looked back at the group, laughing,telling them not to touch her drink. They all laughed andreassured her that they wouldn't. Of course, Bradley, being theclown he is, acted like he was going to pick it up and drink it.Suezanna slapped him jokingly.

Xyla was laughing as Tayt pulled her closer to him for thedance. His arms came around her waist and her arms aroundhis neck, and they just stared at each other smiling. She puther head on his left shoulder as they swayed to the music. Hewhispered in her ear how much he was going to miss her. Shepicked her head up and looked into his eyes and said, "I'mgoing to miss you too."

He decided this was the moment he has been waiting for;it was time to make his move. He took a chance and movedhis face closer to hers, and their lips touched. A few minutesfelt like a lifetime. The gang at the table was too wrapped upin their own conversation to notice.

The song ended, so they headed back to the table. A fewmore drinks later, Xyla and Noelle danced to a couple of fastsongs. Laughing and talking the whole night, they all werehaving a wonderful time together. No one wanted this nightto end.

As the night came to a close, Xyla was saying her goodbyesto the gang out in the parking lot. After much tears fromcrying and talking, with laughing mixed in, everyone got intotheir cars and headed for their homes.

"Would you like some coffee? We can go to my place andsober up a bit," Tayt said, laughing.

"That sounds good. I'm not very tired right now anyway.With the move, and not seeing my dad till who knows when,when does one find time to sleep?" Xyla mentioned whilelooking out the car window.

They pulled up to Tayt's condominium. Tayt got outand went around to open Xyla's door. When she got out,something in the sky caught her eye. When she looked up,she only saw stars fill the sky, but then off in the distance shesaw a plane going by. It was so far away you couldn't hear it.It was so quiet and peaceful looking up at such a wonderfulamazement.

They looked at each other, then Tayt took Xyla by thehand to lead her to the front door. When they got inside, hetold her to make herself comfortable. Tayt put on some softmusic and went to the kitchen to start some coffee. His livingroom and dining room was one large room together. Xylawalked around and gazed at all his pictures and certificatesfrom college. Tayt was very intelligent in the science field andhas done very well for himself.

When the coffee was done, he made them each a cup, andthey both sat on the couch. He had a sixty-inch flat-screentelevision and a huge fish tank that separated the living roomand the dining room. The kitchen was small, so it shared partof the area with the dining room, and the bathroom was offthe living room.

Tayt sat closer to Xyla and proceeded to let her know howhe felt about her.

Xyla said, "Please don't, I don't want to ruin our timetogether."

"I just think it's only fair for you to know the truth," Taytsaid.

Tayt leaned over to kiss Xyla. She knew she had a little toomuch to drink, and with that, she didn't refuse his advances.He picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroomand shut the door.

She walked into the classroom, and blood was splatteredall over the room. Tables were turned over, and the roomwas a mess. She walked over to the window and saw peoplerunning across the campus, then she heard a noise comingfrom the hall. She ran over to the other side of the room whereshe saw a closet door open. She closed it real slow when sheheard someone enter the room.

Whoever it was, they were dragging their feet andbreathing real funny. She tried to crack the door open to seewhat they were doing. There were a couple of people in theroom. They looked terrible. She tried her best to be quiet.Finally they left the room. She got out of the closet and wentto the door. They were walking down the hall. She ran out ofthe room and down the stairs. She was so nervous she trippeddown the stairs and hit the floor at the bottom.

Zombies were coming at her when she came to. She triedto get up, but she must have twisted her ankle when she felldown the stairs. She finally got up and went to run down thehall, but a zombie grabbed her ankle. She started kicking andscreaming to get free. The zombie lost hold of her, so she gotup and ran down the hall dragging her foot. When she got tothe end, she swung the door open, and sunlight hit her face.Zombies came from every direction.

Xyla sat up in bed crying. As she wiped the tears fromher face, she looked around the room and realized that thiswas not her bedroom. A streak of daylight was showingthrough the window. She got up, got dressed, and went intothe kitchen. Tayt was making coffee, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage.

"Good morning," he said, smiling.

"Morning," Xyla said. "When did you get up and startcooking?"

"I got up about an hour ago. You were out like a light. DidI wake you?" Tayt asked.

"No, you didn't wake me. I love your bed, it's reallycomfortable," Xyla replied. She paused for a little bit. "I'msorry about last night. I don't know what came over me. Itmust have been the alcohol."

Tayt answered, "Don't apologize. I'm not sorry."

Xyla replied, "But it should not have happened. This is notthe way I wanted to leave. I don't know how long I'll be goneor when I'll be coming back. I didn't want to leave this way."

"It was the perfect going-away evening," Tayt said, "sodon't be sorry."

"This is just not what I wanted," Xyla kept insisting.

Tayt reassured her that it was okay and kept makingbreakfast.

Xyla went into the bathroom to freshen up. She closed andlocked the door behind her, looked in the mirror, and startedcrying. This was not in her plan.

Tayt had her breakfast ready on a plate with a cup ofcoffee. They ate their breakfast with small talk about hergoing to America and wondering what it will be like. Afterbreakfast, it was time for Xyla to head home. When they leftTayt's place, it was a little cloudy outside. He lived only aboutten minutes from her house. They pulled up in front of herhouse. Tayt put the car in park, put his arm around Xyla,smiled, and told her he loved her. Xyla just stared at him thensmiled and kissed him on the cheek. She opened the car door,got out, shut it, and waved goodbye to Tayt.

As she walked to her front door, it started to rain. Shepulled her heels off and ran the rest of the way. Her dadlooked out the window and saw her coming, so he opened thedoor to let her in, waved Tayt on, and shut the door.

He had to joke with Xyla a bit. "So with Tayt all night," hesaid, laughing.

"It's not what you think, Dad," Xyla reassured him. "It waslate, and we stopped for coffee, and I just ended up crashing athis place, no big deal."