The Gallagher Academy

The first time I saw him was about a year ago when he successfully tailed me on my CoveOps lesson. And I didn't even know that he was following me. I don't know what was worse, the fact that he was able to tail me or that I started to like him. Zach and the rest of the Blackthorne boys came to my school, The Gallagher Academy, to do a school exchange. They came for the second semester of the school year, then left for summer and first semester, but then they returned for the second semester of my junior year. The thing is, Zach and I sort of have a thing. The cool part about sort-of-dating a spy? He knows who you are and you don't have to make up a story about your life. The downfall of it? He is very mysterious. And secretive. My roommates, Bex, Liz and Macey all agree with me that having boys here is awesome. Bex likes Grant, Liz likes Jonas, and Macey..well, Macey still has eyes for Preston. Zach, Jonas and Grant are all in the same classes as us, which is a huge plus. The only class that Liz and Jonas aren't in with us is CoveOps. They are both extremely smart and decided to study other things.

The only bad part about having roommates? Their need to wake up and be loud at precisely seven in the morning.

"Bex, can you be any louder?" I asked her from my bed. I was still trying to sleep, but I guess that doesn't matter to them.

"Cammie, it's seven! We have to leave for breakfast in ten minutes..TEN MINUTES! We have to look decent for the guys."

"Ugh don't remind me." The bad part about having boys at your school? The need to look good. I finally got out of bed and quickly got ready. I didn't look my best, but it was worth the extra twenty minutes of sleep.

"Bex, Macey, Cam? Are you guys ready to go?" Liz was someone who always had to be on time.

"Yep let's go!" Macey was already out the door before any of us said anything.

When we finally sat down at our table to eat, the boys came over and sat with us. After a couple minutes of eating, Zach looked over and noticed that I wasn't eating or saying much.

"Gallagher Girl, are you okay?"

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Here, eat a pancake or something." He grabbed a pancake from the middle of the table and put it on my plate.

"No it's okay, I'm not really hungry."

"Cam, you have to eat." I looked over and saw Liz staring at me. She continued and said, "A spy can never work on an empty stomach."

Pretty soon, everyone at our table was staring at me so I took a bite just to please them. After I finished the pancake, I excused myself from the table and went around to wander. Wandering around the mansion was one of my favorite things to do because I knew the mansion like the back of my hand. I knew about all of the secret passageways and it was nice to finally have some quiet time to think. I walked over to one of my favorite hidden passageways and was about to pull the lever when I heard a voice behind me.

"Gallagher Girl, are you trying to run off?"

"Oh hi, Zach. No I was just..." I trailed off as I saw a smile beginning to play across his face. "What?"

"Oh nothing." He paused for a moment and then went on, still smiling as he spoke. "It's just that you never finished showing me all of your secret passageways."

I rolled my eyes and smiled and went into the secret passageway. I leaned back and said, "Well are you coming or not?"

For the rest of the day we explored the mansion and talked, just enjoying being with each other.

"Well, I guess we had better be getting back. We are going into town soon and we wouldn't want anyone to wonder where we are." Just as I finished saying that, he leaned over and kissed me. It felt good to kiss him and I didn't want to stop.

"Speaking of going out, you want to come see a movie or something with me?" I nodded, and before I could say anything, he grabbed me by the arm and led me out of the secret passageway. We went our separate ways when we got back to the hall, I went to my room and he went to his.

"See you later, Gallagher Girl."

When I got back to the room, my roommates asked where I was and they got really excited when I told them about my movie date.

"We have to pick out an outfit for you and do your hair!" Liz was obviously excited about this. No sooner had she said that then Macey was off in my closet, looking for something she thought I could wear. An hour later, we were all dressed and ready to go. When we got to the front door to leave, Zach and the boys came over and we all started to talk. I saw my mom at the top of the stairs so I went over to her to say bye.

"Bye sweetie, have fun and remember to be safe."

"I know, mom. I will."

"Make sure you stay with Zach and the group, okay?"

"Don't worry I will. Bye mom!" I waved to her as I walked back to the group. Just as I turned to walk away, I saw Mr. Solomon come over and they gave each other a worried look. That was strange, I thought to myself. Before I reached my friends, I noticed that they were having an intense conversation about something. It looked important because they were all worried. When I got to them, they all looked at each other weirdly and stopped talking. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing!" Liz replied, a little too quickly and defensively. I decided to ignore it for now and we all walked in one big group down to Roseville. When we got there, we all decided just to hang out and walk around instead of going to the movies. I hung back from the group a little and Zach stopped so he could talk to me.

"Cam, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." A couple of seconds passed before I added, "Zach, what were you guys talking about earlier, and don't say that it was nothing."

"It was nothing. We were just.." He trailed off as Bex and Macey came over and he noticed me looking at him suspiciously. I looked at Bex and Macey too and then I turned to them and said, "What were you guys talking about earlier?" My voice was strong and angry. They all looked at each other but said nothing. "Fine." I snapped. "Then answer this. Why do you guys all have comms units in?" They didn't answer, which was what I expected so I turned around and started to walk back to school. I felt Zach grab my arm and say, "Cammie, wait. Let me walk back with you."

"No." I snapped. Why were they wearing comms and I wasn't? It didn't make any sense. Before any of them could try to stop me, I turned and ran back to the mansion. I took a couple of shortcuts so I easily lost them. When I got back to the mansion, my mom was waiting for me and she pulled me inside.

"Cameron," she snapped. "What do you think you were doing running away from everyone?"

"Mom, why were they all wearing comms?"

She ignored my question and said, "Cameron, listen to me. Don't ever do that again. Now go to your room and rest. Your roommates will be back shortly." She turned away before I could ask her anything so I went to my room. When I got there, it was empty so I got changed but instead of falling asleep, I waited for them. After an hour, they still weren't back yet so I decided to go explore the mansion. I was wandering around the halls when I heard the voices, quiet at first but they got louder as I approached them. They were all there, Zach, Bex, Liz, Macey, Grant and Jonas. And even...Mr. Solomon? I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but I heard things like, "Cammie..saw us..we should tell her.." What were they talking about? I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't realize that they had finished talking. I started to turn around but then I felt a strong hand cover my mouth and pull me back around the corner. I didn't realize who it was until they said, "Gallagher Girl, what are you doing here?"

"Zach, you should be explaining yourself, not me. Why were you wearing comms, Zach?"

"Cam, I.."

"Stop lying to me and answer my question. Why were you and everyone else wearing comms?"

"I can't tell you, Cammie." His voice sounded so soft and small, almost like he was pleading with me to forgive him.

"You know what? Forget I asked. Apparently keeping secrets from me is what everyone does." I turned and walked off before he could respond. When I got to my room, my roommates were already there and they were silent when I walked in. "So are you guys going to tell me anything?" No response. Figures. "Fine." I snapped. I went right to my bed and tried to fall asleep. When I woke up, I noticed that my roommates were cautiously avoiding me. It was like they didn't want to say or do anything to upset me. Hah, too late I thought.