"Y/n? Y/n, wake up."

A familiar voice and the feeling of someone nudging your shoulder woke you from sleep. You groggily opened your eyes, squinting against the sudden brightness of the room. After a few seconds of confusion, the horrifying realization hit you: you had fallen asleep during class. You frantically looked around the room. Your classmates were all staring at you. Even worse, Michael Jackson, the cutest guy in your entire high school and your crush since freshman year, was staring at you too.

Your chemistry teacher, Mr. Martin, was looking down at you with an annoyed expression. "Y/n, I would appreciate it if you didn't fall asleep in my class."

You blushed furiously and shifted your eyes away from his glare. "S-sorry," you stuttered. You started sweating with embarrassment, and no matter how hard you tried to play it off cool, you couldn't stop shaking. God, you were so humiliated. Everyone's eyes were still on you, or at least it felt like they were. Some kids were snickering and whispering. You dared to steal a glance at Michael. Your heart stopped beating for a moment when your (e/c) eyes met his. He was still looking at you, but he wasn't laughing. To your surprise, he actually looked concerned for you. Quickly, you looked away, your face turning even redder. You fought the overwhelming urge to run out of the room. At the same time, you kicked yourself for staying up so late the night before, but you had homework to finish, and it wasn't going to finish itself. High school was rough, to say the least.

It was such a relief when the dismissal bell rang. You gathered your things, picked up your backpack, and walked hastily out the door and into the busy hallway. I can't wait to go home.

You opened your locker, and as you packed your to go home, your mind drifted off. When I get home, I'm going to put on my pajamas and take a nap. Actually, I'm feeling a little hungry, so first I'll eat (your favorite snack food) and then I'll take a nap. Ugh! I can't wait to get out of here!

"Y/n?"

You gasped and jumped a little, scared half to death. The textbook in your hand dropped onto the floor with a loud bang!

You looked over your shoulder in the direction of the voice. Your heart stopped again. It was Michael. He was wearing his red and yellow varsity jacket, the one with the M on it that you absolutely loved. His hair was perfectly long and curled, and his gorgeous eyes were wide with surprise. He looked almost as embarrassed as you felt. Seriously could you be any more awkward? You hurriedly bent over to pick up your book, but Michael beat you to it.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," Michael apologized. He handed you the book.

Grinning, you took it and said, "Don't worry about it. And thank you."

He got that concerned look again. "Are you okay? You never fall asleep in class like that." Heat rose into your face again, but you forced a lighthearted chuckle to hide your embarrassment.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just stayed up way too late last night. I had a lot of homework."

"Oh," he said, sort of looking down at his feet now. "Then you're probably exhausted."

Your brow furrowed in confusion a bit. "I guess I am. Why? What's wrong?" Your heart was pounding. A crazy thought popped into your head, but you tried to ignore it. He would never ask me out . . .

Michael put his hands in his pockets and shuffled nervously, still avoiding your eyes. "I was going to ask if you wanted to come see a movie with me tonight, but if you're tired . . ."

Holy hell, it was really happening. "Yes!" you blurted maybe a bit too loudly, smiling ear to ear. "I'd love to!"

Michael was mystified and obviously a little caught off guard by your enthusiasm. "You would?"

"Yeah, that would be great! What time?"

"Uhh . . . I was thinking that maybe could pick you up around 8?"

"Sounds good to me! I can't wait."

"Okay, perfect!" Michael sort of spluttered, as if he was surprised you actually said yes. "So I'll see you later then!" Man, was he excited.

"See you later!" And with that, he disappeared down the hall.

When he was out of sight, you threw on your jacket, shut your locker, and headed out the door as well, fighting the urge to skip down the hallway and throw your fists up in the air in victory.

Your mother was almost as excited as you when you told her about your movie date with Michael. She even offered to help you pick out an outfit to wear, and you accepted her offer graciously. You weren't the savviest girl when it came to fashion. In the end, after mixing and matching outfits and shoes for what felt like forever, the two of you finally decided on a (f/c) dress and classy, black heels. Simple, sassy, and elegant.

It was almost 8:00 P.M. and you were still standing in front of the mirror, fidgeting with your dress, fixing your hair, and making sure your makeup was flawless. All the while, you felt like you were going to be sick, you were so nervous. You thought you were definitely going to be sick when you heard the doorbell ring. From your room, you heard your mom answer the door. "Hello! Please come in. I'm (Y/n's) mom."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Michael." Gosh, he's so polite.

"(Y/n)! Michael's here!" your mom called in a sing-song voice.

"Coming!" you replied. Taking a deep breath, you mustered up your courage and walked out of your room. When you saw Michael, your jaw almost hit the floor. He was wearing this stunning, sharp red jacket with black stripes in the shape of a V and pants and shoes to match. His hair was perfect, as always, and his smile lit up the entire house, let alone the room.

Michael stared at you with a pink tint in his cheeks for the longest time before he found any words to say. "Wow. (Y/n), you look . . . amazing." You could have melted.

"Thank you. So do you. I mean . . . dayum, you look awesome." For God's sake, stop being so awkward, (Y/n), you thought to yourself. Michael chuckled bashfully and thanked you for the compliment, then the two of you started heading to his car.

Your mom waved from the front door. "Have fun, you two!"

"Bye, mom!" you called.

"Bye, Mrs. (L/n)!" Michael added cheerfully.

The two of you drove off. On the way to the movies, Michael asked all sorts of questions. How are you? Which class in school is your favorite? What kind of books do you like to read? And the subject he loved to talk about most: What kind of music do you listen to? During the short car ride to the theater, you discovered that the two of you had a lot in common. He seemed almost too good to be true. You couldn't help but grin at how well this date was going so far.

However, things took an unexpected turn upon arriving at the movie theater. The two of you were standing in line, debating which film to see. There were several movies playing: a few action flicks, a romantic comedy, a creepy-looking sci-fi, and a horror movie called "Blood Moon" that featured a werewolf and plenty of gore as far as you could tell from the movie poster. Your stomach churned at the thought. To say the least, you weren't a huge fan of horror movies. Michael, on the other hand, loved them. When he saw the poster, his eyes lit up with excitement. "That's Blood Moon, the new horror movie that just came out! I've only seen the previews for it, but it looks amazing!"

Boy, he really wanted to see that movie, and there was no way you were about to let him down on your first date together. You decided to bite the bullet for him. "Let's see that one then!" you said eagerly, in spite of the qualms you felt.

"Really?!" He sounded like a kid whose mother just told him he could get candy at the store.

You giggled. He was adorable. "Yeah! Really!"

So, Michael bought two tickets for the horror film, and the two of you walked into the dark theater and found some seats. Your heart was pounding already. This is going to be so humiliating. Concealing the fact that you were a scaredy-cat was going to be nearly impossible. You were so skittish, in fact, you almost jumped when the lights dimmed and Michael, you, and the rest of the audience was cast into complete blackness. The movie began:

At this moment in time, you were thinking that this movie was off to a sketchy start. The car breaking down in the middle of nowhere. In the middle of the night. You could only imagine what would happen to the couple as you watched them get out of the car and start walking along the shadowy road. Oh God . . .

Okay, this is pretty cute, you thought to yourself. You looked sideways at Michael. He was already looking at you, and even in the dark, you could tell that he had a sparkle in his eyes. Slowly, he placed his hand on top of yours, intertwining your fingers together. You smiled brightly at him, glad that your blushing face was hidden by the darkness.

Something was not right, and you knew it. You swallowed hard, bracing yourself for whatever would happen next.

Cue the creepy, suspenseful music. Oh jeez . . .

Bad idea. Terrible idea, really, but what else could she do? After thinking for a while, you decided that you would do the same thing if you were in that situation.

You never really knew what happened next because you buried your face into Michael's arm, but by the sound of it, you guessed that the girl was currently being torn to shreds and eaten by the guy she loved. Wonderful.

Even though you weren't watching it happen, you flinched at every gory sound. God, I hate horror movies. At first, Michael looked down at you with concern and confusion, wondering why you just buried your face into his arm, but then you heard and felt him start to laugh. His body shook with the effort to not to cackle out loud. "What's wrong?" he asked teasingly.

"Horror movies just aren't my thing, I guess," you said without ever looking up. You tried to sound cool and casual, but it was hard to preserve your dignity when you were hiding from a movie, but the werewolf on the screen in front of you was ripping that girl to pieces and you didn't even want to think about it let alone see it.

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't like horror movies?" Michael looked guilty in a way, as if he put you in an uncomfortable situation.

"Because you were so excited to see Blood Moon, and I . . . well . . . I wanted you to have a good time," you replied quietly.

He grinned. "Well, I want you to have a good time. Let's go." He stood up. You looked up at him from your seat, confused.

"Wait, what?"

"Come on! Let's go do something you'll enjoy!" he said readily. He took your hand and led you out of the theater, and you didn't object. You were glad to leave that movie behind you, but what would the two of you do now? You walked outside. The air was brisk yet refreshing. It was a gorgeous, starry evening. The moon was full and brilliant, lighting up the sky, but it was difficult to appreciate its beauty because it made you think of werewolves. The night seemed a little scarier after that. You stayed close to Michael's side.

"If I remember correctly, there's a great little restaurant just up the street. You wanna check it out?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" The two of you started walking down the sidewalk. Michael sort of sensed that you were still a bit jumpy, so he walked closer to you and wrapped an arm around you. He started humming a little tune, and every now and then he would bust out a dance move to make you laugh. It worked, and you even started to feel a little calmer. That is . . .

Until you passed the cemetery.

Your blood chilled at the sight of it, the eroded, crooked tombstones covered with moss and the pale fog creeping over the ground. It truly looked like a scene out of a horror movie. You were about to look away and try to think of something happier – maybe walk a little quicker too – when something caught your eye. Movement. In the cemetery.

You stopped dead in your tracks and stared in terror at the graveyard. Michael stopped too. "What's the problem?" he asked, perplexed.

"Look," was all you could say, and even then your voice trembled.

To your utter shock and horror, hands were popping out of the ground of the cemetery. The lids of the above-ground tombs were slowly being pushed open. The sound of stone against stone cut through the silence of the night like a razor. Soon, countless corpses had surfaced. The dead were walking. Right toward you and Michael.

The two of you were struck speechless with fear, but Michael managed to say one word, a word that sent chills down your spine:

"Run."