“What I want is for you to go to hell,” Kat retorts from across the hall. “Come over here and give me a proper hello. “Yo Kitty Kat,” Frosty calls, and I rub the back of my neck, knowing the interaction will not end well. We are always wound up as tight as a bow, so it’s nice to let loose occasionally. “You still have to be punished.” Lucas puts the guy in a headlock and grinds his knuckles into the crown of his head. Since the day of my birth, I’ve lived in the middle of a war the rest of the world knows nothing about. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever been a kid. I’m seventeen, but I haven’t been a kid for a long time. This is my last first day of high school, and I’m already over it. No one outside our group can be trusted, and Kat is at the top of the list.

To be honest, I’m kind of glad the two have separated. He won her over last year, only to lose her over the summer for reasons she would never understand. He means there is no Kat Parker, the girl he’s panted after since junior high. “There are no chicks in homeschool,” Frosty explains. Shut your stupid mouth hole.” Frosty punches Bronx in the shoulder. “I want out of this hellhole sooner rather than later.” “Say the word and I will get us signed up for homeschool.” Bronx moves in beside me. Add in the fresh bruises we sport every morning, proof of the violent lives we lead, and you’ve got a recipe for badass. Lucas and Collins wear house arrest anklets. We are tattooed and pierced and loaded with muscles that aren’t just for appearances-they are weapons. We are considered the troublemakers of Asher High, with good reason. I’m surrounded by seven of my closest friends. I pull the brim of my baseball cap low over my eyes and lean against the bank of lockers behind me. Cole has a lot of ex-girlfriends, jokingly called his harem.

Alice in zombieland by gena showalter