A/N: sorry this took a year i'm lazy and didnt wanna proof read. I actually didnt proof read it so its probably full of typos and weird sentences but i feel like this was overdue so here it is. i'll edit it later lmao

After texting the girls to fill them in on my date with Josh and how much fun it was (deciding to opt out of telling them about my encounter with Zach on the roof) I was out like a light. The excitement from my life flashing before my eyes on the Devil's Twist and winning the coolest stuffed Dino in the tri-state area had me wiped out.

I woke up on Saturday morning-afternoon technically, since it was 12:27pm-to feel my phone buzzing hysterically on my night table. I glanced over at my screen and got a glimpse of a few of the first message ("DID HE KISS GOOD?" "TONGUE OR NO TONGUE THIS IS SERIOUS CAMERON") and groaned. I was not ready to have another full blown boy conversation just yet.

Instead, I decided to go downstairs and get some breakfast and saturday morning cartoons. When I got to the kitchen, Mom was already leaning against the counter sifting through our mail. She looked up when I stepped in her eyes widening in surprise.

"She lives!" She exclaimed, tossing me a UPS Box. I caught it and scanned the sender's address-GALLAGHER ACADEMY-before dropping it back on the counter. "I was worried you were dead."

"A girl can dream," I joked, pulling a banana off of the fruit rack. My mom frowned at me, the same reaction she always had when I made depressing jokes and picked the box back up.

"You should open this Cam, you never know what it could be."

The truth was, a month ago I would've been jumping at the thought of a package from Gallagher. But now, I was finally feeling comfortable and happy in my new home and didn't want to start getting nostalgic. Regardless, Mom was staring down at me and I knew she wouldn't let up until I opened the stupid box.

After smearing a giant glob of peanut butter onto my banana and taking a bite, I grabbed a knife from a drawer and cut open the box. A plethora of foam peanuts spilled out onto the counter and I dug my hand around reaching for whatever was in there.

My hand wrapped around something small and rigid. I paused for a moment, narrowing my eyes at Mom. If this was what I thought it was, there was no way that it was actually coming from Gallagher Academy.

"SURPRISE!"

Mom was screaming before I even pulled out the car keys. She hurried around to the other side of the counter and scooped me in a hug. I hadn't even gotten time to register anything before I was hugging her back. When she finally let me go I studied the keys in my hand. Mom didn't drive a MINI. That meant…

"These are mine?" I asked dumbly, my eyes bouncing back and forth from the keys to Mom. Her smile grew as she nodded. "And the car…"

"In the driveway," she beamed.

That was enough to jolt me into reality. I dropped my half eaten banana onto the counter and hurried towards the kitchen window. Sure enough, sitting there, with an enormous red bow was a cream colored MINI. All mine.

"OH MY GOD MOM THANK YOU!" The news had finally registered for me and I was overcome with excitement. I reached over to give her a kiss on the cheek and then sprinted out the front door towards my brand new (used) car.

I jumped immediately into the driver's seat and started fumbling around with the mirrors and the settings. It felt so weird to be in a car that I knew I could drive wherever I wanted, that was all mine.

Mom was grinning at me from the doorway as I started the car and blasted the AC and music up. She shook her head in disbelief as she watched me lower and raise the windows just for fun.

"Mom thank you so much," I said again, finally turning the car off and stepping out. I pulled her back into a hug and rested my head on her shoulder. "I don't even know what to say."

As we headed back inside and Mom ruffled my hair-her signature move. "Don't say anything Cam, I'm the one who should be thanking you. You've been so accommodating and trying with this move and I just wanted to show you your efforts aren't going unnoticed. Plus Kate does the ads for the guy who works at the dealership and he gave us a heck of a deal. But mostly the other thing. You really deserve it kiddo." She leaned over, pressing her lips to my forehead and giving me a kiss. "Now go take that sucker for a spin."

My first week of driving myself to school was, for lack of a better word, hell. Even though I had had my license for a while now, having only one car and living in New York meant I was rarely ever behind the wheel. Now, with all the open roads and places I had to be I was getting more than my fair share of opportunities to drive. And it was scary.

For starters the Roseville High Parking lot cared for no man. Cars were weaving in and out of spots faster than I could flick my blinker on. Students had absolutely NO REGARD of who was trying to back out, and by Friday morning I had nearly hit at least three of my classmates.

Mom had pulled a couple of strings and gotten me a good parking spot, right by the athletic hall so I could rush out right after cross country practice (PRO), which meant that on Fridays I would always be parked by the football bus before they headed off to their games (CON).

That friday morning, even though the game wasn't until later at night, the bus was already pulled up to the curb of the building patiently awaiting the onslaught of rowdy boys to climb on. Booster club and football moms always decorated the busses for the players in the morning, leaving brightly colored balloons and streamers on the windows and doorway.

I hurried past the parents, shouldering my backpack and trying to cover my face with my hair. I learned quickly that if there was one group of gossipers in world it was small town sports moms. They stuck their nose in other's business faster than they could exchange casserole recipes, and the pretty new high school principal and her daughter were probably a hot topic in their Facebook chat rooms.

I was nearly in the school safe and sound when I heard a familiar voice call my name. "Cammie?"

Kate was tucking a roll of football shaped stickers under her arm as she descended down the steps of the bus. I perked up, grateful I wasn't being stopped by some booster parent and pulled her into a hug.

"I see you drove yourself," she grinned, nodding towards my keys. I took a step back and pressed the car lock button on my keys just so the alarm would sound- something I did a lot just for fun these days.

"I'm so happy Kate you have no idea," I told her proudly. She chuckled, shaking her head.

"While you're happy, Zach's over at home pouting cause he can't use driving you home as an excuse to see you anymore."

I blushed, immediately looking away. First of all, I doubted that. That was the most un-Zach thing I had ever heard in my entire life. Second, since that night on the roof I had seen a lot less of Zach. Maybe it was the fact that I walked with Josh to class after lunch or that we had had lectures the last four days in Bio, but the Cammie-to-Zach conversation ratio had taken a serious nosedive. It was actually sort of starting to bother me.

"No way," I joked, trying to recover from the obvious discomfort I probably showed. "I'm sure he's glad to be free of my passenger seat commentary and constant whining." Kate raised her eyebrows, ready to disagree, just as the minute bell pierced through the halls. "Crap! I gotta go," I said, taking a step backwards into the school. "Talk to you later?"

Kate nodded, grabbing the football stickers from under her arm and sticking one to my shirt. "Give my little brother a kiss for me today, will ya?"

And to the booster moms' disappointment I gave her the bird.

The minute I dropped my lunch tray onto the table I knew I had just gotten myself into the middle of something bad. How did I know? Well Macey was screaming, Jonas was covering his ears, and Liz was desperately trying to weigh Bex down as she was literally attempting to stab Grant with her plastic knife.

"What's going on right now?" I asked as a pencil flew, spear style from Grant's hand.

Macey slammed her hands on the table and sighed. She reached over and with one arm did what Liz could not, yank Bex into a sitting position and drop her fork. "We can't agree."

Finally feeling safe enough to sit down, I dropped onto my seat and dug into my weirdly shaped chicken nuggets. "About?"

"This weekend," Jonas explained. "We want to leave tonight, but they," he pushed his glasses up his nose and glowered at Bex and Macey who were still seething. "Want to wait till tomorrow since the football game is gonna end so late."

I nodded slowly. If we were being honest I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Leaving for what? When? Was I even invited to this thing that was causing a lunch table world war? My mind started to head into panic mode.

"Grant's lake house," Zach explained, as he took a seat next to Jonas. He looked at me with a slightly amused smile. "Three day weekend? You look confused Gallagher Girl."

Ah yes. I had totally agreed to go to Grant's lakehouse on Labor Day weeked forever and a half ago. Now would definitely be a good time to ask Mom for permission again.

I nodded dumbly.

"We just think," Macey was stating in a matter of fact tone, "A bunch of teenagers driving three hours with a car full of alcohol is bound to attract more suspicion at night than it is during the morning."

"It's bloody stupid is what it is," Bex interjected.

Again, I looked around stupidly. This was the first I was hearing about alcohol. Not that I had a problem with it, at Gallagher we were allowed champagne or wine on special occasions, but I definitely had never been drunk before. And a 'car full of alcohol' seemed like something that would definitely change that.

"What do you think Cammie?"

I dunked a chicken nugget into my BBQ sauce and looked around. There was a clear swing vote here and I was the one to wage it. "Why don't we drive up tonight but instead of taking all the alcohol with us we just buy it tomorrow?"

Bex leaned back and dropped her hands on the table triumphantly. "There we go," she grinned. "Private school brain at work!"

I laughed and shrugged even though internally my mind was in panic overdrive. I wanted to ask a million questions like who had a fake ID, how were we driving up, how the heck was I going to ask my mom (?!) but instead I nibbled on my fries and watched as my friends went over the game plan.

After the boys finished playing we would meet in the Cici's parking lot, grab some pizza to-go, and head up for Lake Chesdin. Being around a three hour drive, we would take turns in Grant's mom's Suburban until we made it to the lake house, then unpack, pick rooms and start the weekend off right.

I made a mental list of the things I would need: swimsuit, towel, snacks...and felt myself start to bubble with nervous energy. Someone said something to me and I nodded, mumbling something I don't even remember in return. Besides field trips and the occasional sleepover at a friend's this was going to be my first weekend away from Mom. Like, ever. With boys. And alcohol.

My head was spinning.

"Cammie, are you okay?" Josh's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. My eyes came back to focus only to find that the bell had rung and everyone was clearing out of the cafeteria. Apparently I'd let my friends head off without me. I wrinkled my forehead in confusion and pushed my tray towards the trash can.

"Yeah sorry," I stood up and shouldered my backpack, only to find that Deedee was standing at Josh's side. She offered me a tiny smile, and shifted uncomfortably on her feet. It was obvious they had been talking before they had noticed me sitting at the table alone.

The three of us exited the cafeteria into the quickly crowded hallway and I found myself getting sucked into their conversation. Josh was trying to convince Deedee that Superman would totally win in a fight against Batman and he had the movie history to prove it. Deedee meanwhile was grinning ear to ear, and debating that he definitely could not.

"I'll just have to prove it to you then," Josh grinned, shoving her lightly with his shoulder. "My house after the game tonight? We'll have a movie marathon."

Deedee grinned back at him, nodding excitedly. "Wanna come Cammie?" She offered now looking past him and focusing on me. I shot her a smile in return but I knew a courtesy invite when I saw one. Ever since Josh and I had started dating I could see how bummed she was she couldn't spend so much time with her best friend. I definitely didn't want to put a damper on her night by showing up. Besides, we were leaving right after the game to head to the lake.

"I'd love to really," I said as we came to a halt in front of my biology class, "but I'm leaving for Grant's lake house tonight otherwise I totally would."

Josh pouted at me, then leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. "Aw that's a shame. We'll miss ya."

I smiled, then watched as the two of them made their way down the hallway. The minute bell rang through the halls and as Deedee tried to hurry off to class, Josh wrapped his arm around Deedee and pulled her into the crook of his arm, laughing as she struggled. When they finally rounded the corner, I pivoted on my heel and headed into the noisy classroom.

I dropped my bag on the desk and collapsed into my usual seat in between Zach and Liz. They were in the middle of a very heated discussion about Peter Jackson's rendition of the Lord of The Rings movie and pretty much didn't even notice my presence.

I tried not to feel bothered about how little of Zach I had seen recently. Apart from occasional glimpses through our bedroom windows, lunch, and the rare front yard encounter we had practically been in different spheres. He hadn't even been home the night Kate invited us over for cheesecake and Top Chef-he had been too busy studying psych with Tina Walters (?!).

Now, even as I sat right in between him and Liz, his main focus was on the very compelling argument that the visual effects of props being passed amongst humans, hobbits, and dwarves was phenomenal and almost ahead of its time. He did however, pause at the end of his breathless rant and turn to me with a smirk, "Right Gallagher Girl?"

I had only seen parts of Lord of the Rings and definitely didn't have enough knowledge to pick sides on this heated argument amongst my two friends yet I still found myself throwing him a shrug. "Sure."

That was enough to send the two of them into more urgent whispers as Dr. Fibbs began his lecture. It was nearly impossible to focus on the characteristics of protists when opinions on elf ears were being shot back and forth. Pretty soon I gave up on learning all together and just tuned in for the movie critique session that was happening around me.

"Would you give it a rest, seriously I'm right." Zach was groaning, raking a hand through his hair. "As someone older and wiser I think it's safe to say I'll always be correct on things like this."

"Wiser?" Liz squeaked, her voice getting so high a couple of heads turned in our direction. "Please Zach, my GPA made Principal Gillian cry last year. And I don't think your few months before me on earth as a slobbering infant made you any more privy to novel-to-movie accuracy and Lord of the Rings graphics so…"

Zach chuckled leaning back in his chair and folding his hands behind his head. "Point is, I need you to admit I'm right. Or I won't drop this."

Liz huffed. "Well it's not happening."

"I can do this all day Liz, all day."

And boy, could he. The debate lasted all the way through bio, through the walk down the hallway where I parted ways with them, and then-literal hours later-in the car on the way to the lake.

We were two and a half hours in, packed eight deep in Grant's mom's Suburban and from the very back row of seats Liz, Zach and now Jonas who had taken the courtesy to join the discussion, were still talking J.R Tolkien. I had been talked through various scenes of the movie with precise detail and dialogue recollection, dragged into not one, not two, but three tie breaking argumentative points, and at one very painful point, Jonas even took it upon himself to hum the entire introduction score to completion, from memory .

"If they don't stop I'm going to kill myself, I swear to God," Macey whispered in my ear. She was sandwiched in between me and Preston (dead asleep) in the first row of seats. Bex had switched off with Grant while driving and the two of them were deep in conversation, too far away or too indifferent to hear the never ending discussion taking place behind them. Somehow, she hadn't crashed the car yet, which had put me at ease, though maybe at this point it might have been preferable if it would put the argument to an end.

"Seriously," I sighed, "I feel like I've seen the movie at this point? They've been doing this since fifth period."

Macey rolled her eyes, jerking her shoulder up as Preston's sleepy head rolled onto her. The look on her face was could literally only be described by the word murderdeathrage. She sucked in a deep breath then whirled around to face the three in the back. "This needs to end." She announced. "Seriously now. Someone agree with someone or Lord of the Rings is going on the Do Not Discuss List of life, okay?"

The three in the back nodded solemnly, clearly realizing that this had gone too far. As Macey turned back around, a look of relief on her face, the movie enthusiasts came to an agreement. I heaved a grateful sigh, closing my eyes and pressing my head against the seat. Today had felt like one of the longest days ever. Between the piles of schoolwork our teachers had thrown on us in class and the emotional rollercoaster of the football game against Bellaire High (victory!), I felt like I had been awake for hours. The pitch black of night covered the windows and made the car feel like the perfect place to just close my eyes and…

"Hey! Cammie what are you doing?"

My eyes popped back open and I stared back at Grant, who was turned around in the front seat finally tuning in to the people behind him.

"Power nap?"

Grant shook his head reached around to clap a hand on Preston's knee. The poor boy jumped four feet in the air, nearly choking himself against his seatbelt.

"No sleeping." Grant announced. He raised the volume on the radio and thumping music filled the car. "We're here."

I peered out my window, blinking into the darkness. Um, was this where I would get murdered? There was nothing but giant trees and a narrow winding road. As we kept driving through the woods, I caught glimpses of a couple of houses through the branches. Except houses didn't even seem to be an accurate description. What we were passing were straight up mansions. From what I could see I was in the classiest forest in all of Virginia. And after a couple of minutes of Bex's questionable navigation through the trees, we were pulling into a rock lined driveway and coming to a halt in front of what I could only describe as one of the nicest houses I had ever seen.

I piled out of the car in awe, my eyes glued to the dark brick and aged wood that made up the towering home in front of me. There were hundreds of windows, twinkling lights, and a massive wrap-around porch-literally nothing at all like "lowkey lakehouse" Grant had described.

Grabbing my bag from the trunk, I followed my friends inside. The interior of the house was somehow prettier than the exterior, all rustic and tasteful decorations. I made a mental note to tell Mom to ask Mrs. Newman from some design pointers.

"Alright," Grant started, turning towards me and the girls. "You guys go upstairs and pick y'all's room we, um, have some stuff we got to take care of down here." He shifted nervously on his feet and adjusted the bag strap on his shoulder, something inside it clinking in response.

Next thing I knew, I was being herded up the stairs by an eager Bex who immediately ran into the first room and dropped her bags onto the bed. "Mine," she grinned. I rolled my eyes and moved onto the next room which was a much larger one with two queen size mattresses. Macey and Liz were already settling into either bed.

"Cam come share with me!" Liz exclaimed excitedly. She patted the opposite end of the giant bed excitedly.

I grinned back at her and threw my bag to my newly claimed side of the royal blue comforter. "Are you sure Liz? I can just get my own room next door like Bex if you guys would be more comfortable."

Macey chuckled, shaking her head. She unzipped her bag and started pulling out a load of clothes. "Bex only wants her own room so Grant can crash in there with her," she told me a matter of factly. "This will be the party room, trust me."

"Oh bugger off," Bex appeared in the doorway. She leaned against the door frame, a tiny smile on her face. "Come on let's go start the real party."

We followed her lead down the stairs and walked towards the loud music and screaming that appeared to be coming from the kitchen. How four guys could make so much noise I didn't know. We stepped into the kitchen and were immediately greeted by the sight of our four guy friends hunkered over the island shuffling around bottles of what appeared to alcohol.

"They're here!" Preston beamed excitedly, lifting a sloshing shot glass towards us in salute.

"I cannot believe y'all!" Macey cried, "Y'all brought the alcohol up with us anyways? Even after we agreed to compromise?" Her last words were specifically directed at Preston and uttered in one of the iciest tones I'd ever heard her muster. He slowly lowered his glass.

"Relax,,Mace," Zach smirked, sliding a red solo cup into her hand. He passed around a few to the remaining three to us and took up his own shot glass. The other boys were also holding one. "We hid it well. If you couldn't even tell we had it, no cop would've been able to either." He raised his glass in the air and winked. "To lying!"

"To lying!" The boys echoed, then threw their heads back and downed their drinks. Reluctantly and despite the awful toast, my girlfriends followed.

Whew, I thought nervously surveying the drink in front of me. This is it Cammie. The first underarge drink I would take without Mom being around. Sure, I had had sips of beer and wine every now and then with dinner, but I had never actually drank on my own, let alone gotten drunk. Something told me this little 2 ounce cup in front of me would change that. I sucked in a deep breath, looked at my friends, and took a sip.

Holy crap.

That was disgusting. If gasoline and ginger ale had a baby it would taste a lot like this drink. "What is this?"

Zach laughed. "It's cheap beer, Gallagher Girl. You don't have to drink any if you don't want to."

I huffed a little. Yeah, I wasn't going to let myself succumb to peer pressure, but I was interested in letting loose. My mom and I had talked before she'd sent me on her way. "I trust you, kiddo. I know if you do anything, you'll be safe. Just talk to me if you do, okay?" Of course, there had been lectures about being safe around boys and not letting my guard down, but that was typical. Point was, I'd been getting ready for something like this. But I didn't want to get drunk off beer that tasted like pee.

"It's terrible," I grumbled to Zach who was still grinning at me. Our other friends clearly hadn't cared about the taste of their drinks, and were finishing off their cups like it was nothing. "I've never had beer this bad."

"Not living up to your private school standard?"

I decided to play along. In my most pretentious voice, I turned my nose up at him and said "Not even close. We had beer imported from Berlin."

Zach let out a low whistle. "Impressive. Well I have vodka imported from-" he checked the handle, "-Clermont, Kentucky. Think you'd like this better?" I eyed the dark brown drink and shrugged.

"Sure."

Zach raised an eyebrow but poured me a shot glass. He didn't even fill it up halfway, so I gave him a look. He sighed and filled it up more. "I don't know how you handle your liquor, Gallagher Girl. I'd rather play it safe."

"I'm not a baby, Zach." Before he could pour himself another, I lifted my glass and downed the drink as smoothly as I could. Then I started choking.

I had seen plenty of high school parties in movies and T.V shows. I had also seen an abundance of scenes where people take shots with their friends. Except literally nothing prepared me for the intense feeling that set my throat on fire. It was like I had drank lighter fluid and a match all at the same time. My cool persona was instantly wiped away and I was left wheezing, coughing and with my eyes watering.

"Someone get Cammie a chaser!" Liz chirped, attention suddenly drawn back to me from wherever the conversation had been, her hand going to my back in soothing circles. Jonas stuck a cup into my hand and I lunged for it, downing the soda in three gulps.

When I finally caught my breath and my embarrassment subsided I put down the cup with a timid smile. "That was fun."

My friends burst out laughing. Zach raised his eyebrows, his eyes staying on me as he downed his shot. He drank it like it was nothing, not even needing the soda cup in front of him, which was annoyingly impressive.

After my near death choke attack, everyone was much more interested in drinking the liquor over the beer and shots were being passed around. With my first one down and out of the way, I was definitely ready to take a second. I grabbed a glass off the counter and after we said a quick toast for three day weekends, knocked it back.

For the most part the second shot went down easier. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth. While the burn in my was still there it wasn't nearly as bad as before. My friends on the other hand seemed to be able to handle their liquor like champions. Of course there was the occasional wince after a shot or a quick swig of a chaser, but for the most part they went on pouring drinks and downing alcohol like it was nothing.

"Pong anyone?" Zach offered, holding up a couple of solo cups and a few beers. At the sound of that, Bex, Grant and Preston lunged towards the game room for a beer pong doubles tournament. Macey on the other hand was busy with me. She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away from the crowd. Then placing her drink on the counter and pressing both hands to my face, "Cammie Morgan."

"Macey McHenry."

"This is your first time drinking."

"Says who?" I stammered, feeling my face get hot. I was trying to play things off as much as possible. "I thought I looked go-"

"Oh, babe, you're so obvious," she giggled. "Anyways, shut up. Listen. I want you to have fun. I want you to be safe. You don't have to drink, you know that? We're not trying to get trashed. It's just a few friends, hanging out and playing games."

"I know, Mace. It's fine."

She eyed me but didn't say anything. Then clucked her tongue and pulled back. "Okay. If you say so. But I want you to drink a glass of water every hour. And don't push yourself okay? And stop when you need to. And make good decisions. Unless you're with Zach. In that case make bad ones. Filthy ones."

I groaned, shoving her off of me and laughing. "Yes, mom. Except for that last one! And I'm fine! I don't even feel anything yet." That wasn't totally true. The vodka still felt hot in my chest and the room seemed a bit sharper than normal. I could feel a slight buzzing in my limbs that wasn't usually there. It was possible I was a little bit of a lightweight.

Macey nodded, and I made my way towards the kitchen counter where Preston had set up the drinks in a very organized fashion. I browsed through my options of mixers and liquors for a moment then remembering something I'd read in some teen magazine, poured myself half a cup of cranberry juice and some vodka.

I took a sip and smiled. Not bad.

My new drink in hand, I started making my way through the house. The beer pong games were still happening in all their intense glory, Macey had blended herself something with strawberries andwas watching in great amusement as Jonas unsuccessfully attempted to set up a karaoke machine in the living room. Liz was already swaying-however many drinks she'd had in a five foot frame really did the trick fast-and was now (offkey) belting the Star Spangled Banner into the (unconnected) karaoke microphone.

"Cammie join me!" Liz giggled, extending another microphone in my hand. Suddenly the machine crackled to life and her voice boomed through the house. "Whoo! Let's sing."

I nodded, holding up my finger and taking four giant gulps of my drink. If I was going to sing in front of people I would need a lot more liquid courage than was currently flowing through my bloodstream.

Feeling more confident than before, I grabbed the extra mic from her and stepped up onto the ottoman she was balancing on. It seemed sturdy enough for a good ol' musical number.

"Jonas." I said, pressing my lips to the mic. My voice echoed around me making me jump a little. "Bennie and the Jets please. Elton John."

Jonas grinned, raising his cup in salute. "Good choice," he beamed before searching up the song.

I smiled back, swaying in place unsteadily. I hadn't realized how quickly this stuff could go to your head. But, before I could think more about the fact that I was now definitely, definitely feeling it. Elton John's sweet, smooth voice filled the room and I found my singing along with him and Liz.

And boy, was I singing.

It was weird to experience. Even as I was doing it, and even as I watched our friends file into the room to watch us I realized that this was definitely not something I would be doing on normal circumstances. This was so totally un-Cammie-like it was like I was watching a movie about myself where I suddenly became fun and confident, andndid embarrassing things in front of her friends without a caring how dumb she looked.

Even when Zach took a seat on the couch to watch us, I didn't stop. Drunk Cammie was admittedly a badass Cammie.

Liz and I moved our way into the chorus and I raised my arms in the air and squeezed my eyes shut, putting everything I had into making my voice as loud and husky as Elton's. I jumped off the ottoman-nearly falling-and began to dance around the room. Macey and Bex were already dancing and pulled me towards them, twirling me around.

After a few twirls the room was spinning pretty fast, making me so dizzy I had to break free from them-e more spionn and I would've probably fallen down. I clenched the microphone in hand and started working the room with some dance moves. Then, sliding across the floor in a pathetic attempt for a moonwalk, I met Liz back on the ottoman for our high note grand finale. My friends exploded into cheers and Liz and I dropped forward into bows, accepting our standing ovation and praises.

After a prolonged praise from our friends, Liz and I stumbled off the ottoman to make room for our next performers. Jonas and Grant took our mics and to everyone's surprise picked to sing Summer Nights from Grease...with Grant singing Sandy. I dropped down onto the couch, exhausted from my sick dance moves and settled in for a good show.

On the other side of the couch was Zach, sipping on a bottle of something and grinning from ear to ear. I hadn't talked to him much in that last few days and it felt like we were becoming strangers. Our eyes met for a moment and he threw his head back in the classic highschool boy head nod before looking away again.

I felt my stomach form into a knot. Why was he acting so weird and distant with me? I couldn't believe I found myself wanting to be annoyed by one of the most obnoxious human beings on the planet.

Instead of dwelling, I drowned my gloomy thoughts in another drink, almost instantly forgetting about how weird Zach was acting when hearing Grant's high pitched falsetto. The boy's performance was truly a captivating sight and I couldn't hold back my laughter.

After them, Liz and Jonas went, followed almost immediately by a Hannah Montana performance by Bex and Macey. Zach even went up and did an enthusiastic one-man rendition of Footloose that had us literally laughing so hard we were crying. I don't know how much time had passed, but it was such a sight to see I almost didn't realize my drink was empty. Sighing I pushed myself off the couch and towards the kitchen. Macey's words echoed in my head 'Don't push yourself' and I surveyed the alcohol in front of me. I was definitely drunk. my vision was swirly around me and I could feel my body swaying even though I was almost positive I had my feet steadily planted on the floor. I didn't need more alcohol that was for damn sure. In fact, I didn't need anything but food. Some good, fattening, delicious food.

Mentally praising my excellent idea, I pulled open the Newman's pantry and was immediately faced with my childhood dream of chips, Gushers, candy, cereal and crackers. I raided the rows, grabbing a pack of kitkats, a bag of cheez-its and a couple of fruit rollups. Now, goodies in hand, I made my way outside to the back porch for a breath of fresh air. At this point in the night it was getting so late that people were branching off, either heading to bed or snuggling up to watch some T.V. As inviting as the thought of rest sounded, the lake outside was glistening in the bright moonlight and I found myself itching to dip my toes in.

Outside, the air was crisp and chilly making me hesitate for a moment. It was jacket weather and all I was wearing was an oversized long sleeve shirt. Still, the snacks in my hand were calling me, so I ignored the cold and made my way to the dock.

There, I peeled off my shoes and sunk my feet into the chilly water. Despite the icy weather the water felt surprisingly good and I almost wanted to jump in. After considering it for a moment, I remembered the food in my arms and tore into a kit kat instead, leaning back and pressing my body to the dock. Candy somehow even tastier when drunk.

"Oh God." Zach's voice coming from behind me was enough to make me jump, water splashing out around me. I turned around, a piece of candy halfway in my mouth and my head spinning. The darkness (along with the copious amounts of alcohol), made it hard to make out his figure, but as my blurry eyes focused I could see him approaching. He walked up to the dock, surveyed me for a moment, then kicked off his shoes and plopped down next to me. "You're drunk."

I furrowed my eyebrows, making sure I didn't slur my words as I said, "Am not," and took another enormous bite of my candy. It was a lie, I so totally was, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right.

Zach laughed, reaching over and grabbing one of my fruit roll-ups without asking. He ripped it open with his teeth. "You sure about that?" he grinned.

Even in my dizzy state I noticed he wasn't at all drunk. I mean, I knew I was a lightweight but we had been at Grant's for a good few hours and I was surprised he wasn't at least a little bit tipsy. Especially since I was pretty sure I'd seen him drinking straight whisky for most of the night.

"How are you not?" I asked. I moved onto my bag of chips, my hands slipping while unsuccessfully trying to pry them open. I concentrated as best as I could, my head feeling all fuzzy, before finally yanking the bag open, the cheesy chip contents exploding around me. With a groan I crossed my arms across my chest and twisted my face into a pout. "No fair!"

Zach, snickering, picked a couple of chips off the dock and tossed them towards the grass. He grabbed one off his lap and bit into it. "It takes a lot to get me drunk," he explained through crunches. "I don't drink often, and even when I do, it rarely ever happens."

Ugh. Of course. Mr. Perfect couldn't even get belligerent like the rest of us.

"You're boring," I informed him, reaching over to grab another chip from his lap. He stilled, but I didn't pay attention, happily popping it into my mouth. Zach cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "You should drink water. You'll regret it if you don't."

I shrugged, moving my attention to the food in my lap. The only thing I had left was a fruit roll up and at that moment it looked like the single greatest food in the world. Using my teeth this time, I pried open the wrapper and pressed the sweet snack to my tongue, holding it steady against my taste buds.

"What are you doing?" Zach asked, seeming very entertained as he watched me. I continued to keep the roll-up on my tongue but turned to face him, crossing my legs under me. "Ton-tafuus," I replied.

His eyebrow raised.

I pulled the roll up away so I could reply clearer. "Tongue tattoos Zach. All fruit roll-ups come with tongue tattoos, see?" Shifting my body forward, I stuck my tongue out and got closer so he could see the true artistic masterpiece I had tainted my mouth with. Only, the alcohol sort of affected my balance and I ended up practically falling into his arms. I immediately pulled away, not wanting him to have more fuel for his 'you're so drunk' claims. "What is it, can you tell?"

Zach was looking down at me, his face both amused and surprised. We were no longer sitting super close but he was breathing shallowly. Almost as if he was breathless. f I hadn't been so.. Inebriated, I would've been making fun of him for it. Of course, if I hadn't been, this situation wouldn't be happening at all. But I was, so it was-something I would definitely grow to regret in the morning. That however was the furthest thought on my mind as Zach placed his hand under my chin and tilted my head up. "Hmmm," he said pensively, "Looks like a smiley face."

Pleased with his answer, I pulled back all the way. I moved so fast and clumsily I nearly fell off the dock and into the water, but Zach's hand wrapped around my arm and steadied me. "Oh a smiley face!" I was saying excitedly as if I hadn't nearly plunged into the lake. "That's perfect! Wanna know why? Cause I'm feeling so smiley right now!"

The minute those words left my mouth I wanted to cringe. I wasn't acting like myself and I knew it. I mean I had basically almost licked Zach's face seconds earlier, but at the same time I felt so relaxed I didn't care.

"Smiley? Gee, Gallagher Girl you're a lot nicer when you're drunk," Zach grinned. His hand remained on my arm despite my current success in balance.

"That's because you're much less annoying when I'm drunk," I smiled back. I poked the tip of his nose with my finger. "In fact you're even kinda cute."

At this Zach's eye's narrowed thoughtfully and he tilted his head at me. He reminded me of one of those german shepherd puppies at the pet store. "Only when you're drunk?"

He asked the question slowly and carefully as if the answer was actually something intriguing. But, unfortunately for him, I was losing interest in the conversation. In fact, I was suddenly straight up bored. My head was fuzzy and my brain was moving a mile a minute and suddenly there was only one thought in my mind:

Cameron Ann Morgan. You totally have to go swimming right now.

I jumped up to my feet, whatever cheez-it's that had been hiding in the folds of my t-shirt flying out around me. "Zach, we have to go swimming right now," I told him insistently. I grabbed onto his hand and tried to pull him to his feet.

"Okay."

"Really?" I had taken a lot less convincing than I had expected it to. I was ready to have to argue my points, fight with him, maybe even whine a little. But his concession came easily and quickly.

"Honestly, I'm scared to disagree with you right now."

"Yay!" I was thrilled. I was going swimming! Right now! A drunk Cammie's dream come true! My hands curled around the bottom of my t-shirt and I began to pull it upward, ready to jump in the water right this second despite only having underwear on-something that seemed like an excellent idea in the moment-but before I could Zach was yanking it back down.

"Whoa what are you doing?" He asked and in the light of the moon his face seemed a little bit flushed.

My brows furrowed and I felt confusion cloud my already muggy brain. He said we could go swimming didn't he? I was just trying to swim.

"You said…" I started, gesturing towards the water.

Zach exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment. "Gallagher Girl we can't swim here. We'll literally get pneumonia," he explained. "We'll use the pool, it's heated." He let go of the bottom of my shirt, but he still avoided my eyes. "And you can get a real swimsuit."

I nodded, understanding his logic despite the fact that I was rather impatient, and followed him up the walk back to the house. He led me up the stairs and waited outside my room as I stumbled into my swimsuit. I had only brought two and both were from late middle school - early high school years. The bikini was honestly sort of embarrassing with it's striped fabric and bow tie on the hips.

Nevertheless, I pulled it on and threw my t-shirt back over it. When I stepped back out, Zach was leaning against the doorframe with two towels draped over his shoulders and a pair of dark green swimming trunks. They matched his eyes.

"Ready?" He asked as I looked up at him. I nodded (slowly because I felt like if I moved my head any faster my brain would scramble together) and felt a dopey smile roll across my lips. Yay! We were swimming!

The two of us made our way down the stairs, past the living room where Liz, Jonas, Preston and Macey were piled together watching a movie, and towards the backyard. The giant pool was rectangular shaped and had mists of heat radiating off of it. It looked like a giant hot tub. I had to get in.

Without waiting, I pulled my shirt off and waded into the pool knee-deep. The hot water brushed over the goosebumps on my cold skin and instantly made me feel relaxed. My head still felt loopy and I was definitely sort of delirious still but there was something about the warmness of the water that just made me feel calm.

"This is amazing," I breathed happily, taking a few more steps in so that the water reached my belly button. Behind me Zach was quiet and I turned around to make sure he was there. I looked just in time to watch the boy run full speed towards the edge of the pool and hurtle himself off the concrete into an enormous cannon ball. Water exploded out around us, spraying me everywhere. I had been wanting to swim sure, but I had been planning on going in at my own pace. Now my upper half was damp and freezing in the chilly air.

"You got me all wet!" I snapped when Zach resurfaced above the water. His hair was sticking to his forehead and he gave his head a wild shake sending more water in all directions.

"Hey, Gallagher Girl," he said so quietly that I had to lean in to hear. "You're in a pool. You're gonna get WET!" With his last word, Zach sent a burst of water towards me and I found myself completely submerged. Sputtering and glaring at him, I splashed him back as revenge. He was already soaking so I'm sure he didn't actually care that much, but he acted incredibly offended all the same. So offended in fact that he felt the need to grab me, pick me up, and completely dunk me underwater. I squirmed under his grasp but it was useless. He was way too strong.

When I finally resurfaced I was glaring at him. I could only imagine what my ponytail had turned into and I had so much water in my nose I felt like I should be shooting it out of a blowhole. I swam towards him, grabbing his arm in an unsuccessful attempt to drag him underwater, saying through gritted teeth, "You are such an ass."

Zach watched my fruitless attempt to pull him under with a smile. He was much bigger than me and barely budging. After a few seconds of yanking his arm in vain, he finally put me out of my misery and ducked underwater. He came back up and winked. "Now we're even."

I rolled my eyes, kicking off the floor and coming to a float on my back. I was at a gorgeous lakehouse with my awesome friends and swimming in a badass heated pool. I wasn't going to let Zachary Goode put me in a bad mood. Instead, I focused on the fact that the night was a dark one and the stars overhead seemed so bright I felt like I could see every single one. I thought Roseville had a good view of the sky, but boy did this lakehouse take the cake.

"Look," I said excitedly, standing up straight and pointing upward. Zach followed my gaze with his eyes. "There's Ursa Major."

I felt Zach make his way beside me, his head still turned towards the stars. "Mmmm," he mumbled thoughtfully. He grabbed my hand and moved it to the left so I was pointing at a new constellation."There's Scorpio, my favorite."

I followed the pattern of the scorpion with my eyes and then glanced over at him. There was something in his face as he stared up into the cluster of stars that I didn't recognize. Almost a kind of sadness. Hesitantly I nudged him with my shoulder. "Is that your zodiac sign? Scorpio? Would explain a lot; you're pretty hot headed and-"

Zach's eyes broke away from the shapes in the sky and they met mine. They were dark despite the light of the moon reflecting off of them. "It was my mom's."

I clamped my mouth shut. Way to go Cammie! Someone should get me a muzzle.

"I'm so sorry," I began, searching his face to see if I had hurt his feelings. "I didn't mean to imply your mom was…"

A smile broke out across Zach's face and he nudged me back with his shoulder. "I know you didn't, Gallagher Girl," He assured me. Then with an eyebrow wiggle, "And I'm a Leo."

I nodded absentmindedly, offering him a half-hearted smile in return. Now my mind was on his parents and I wondered again what had happened to them. I had been at Roseville over a month and I still hadn't heard anything about them. Then again, I hadn't exactly asked either.

As if reading my mind, Zach leaned against the edge of the pool on his elbows and surveyed me. "They died when I was twelve. Someone broke into our house. My sister and I were at my grandma's, but my parents were home. The robbers were armed. I don't know why they decided to..." He faded away, frowning. It was weird seeing his lips, usually pulled into a playful smirk, turned down so far.

I waded towards the shallow end of the pool towards him and mimicked his posture against the edge, leaning back on my elbows so we were both facing the lake and the stars above. "I'm so sorry."

His arm, which was right next to mine, bumped me in a shrug. "It's fine," he said quietly. "I have Kate."

In that moment I felt like I needed to tell him what had happened to my dad. I wasn't typically one to talk about it, thinking about his accident was usually enough to make my chest hurt, but I couldn't fight the feeling of speaking up. Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that I was seeing a side to Zach I had never seen before, I started to talk.

"My dad passed away when I was seven," I started, keeping my eyes glued on the sky. I didn't want to look at him or anywhere else when I said this. "He was driving home from a work conference and it was pouring out. Hard to see, even if you were okay, but if you were under the influence... The drunk driver that hit him walked off without a scratch but my dad…I miss him so much it hurts. I can't even imagine feeling that for two parents."

By the time I finished my sentence I felt my throat starting to close up. I wasn't really one to cry and I definitely wasn't about to do it in front of Zach, so I clamped my mouth shut and sucked in a deep breath, trying to push away the memories of my dad that had resurfaced.

Zach shifted next to me and suddenly he was in front of me, staring at me like he had a million things to say and no place to start. I tried to avert my eyes, instead counting all the constellations I saw, but I kept finding myself looking back at him. Something about those green eyes was just comforting.

"I think you're pretty badass, Gallagher Girl, you know that?" Zach said, his mouth turning up in a crooked grin.

Still feeling emotional, I nodded, not ready to talk just yet.

"You okay?"

I nodded again.

"Wanna see me do a handstand?"

This was enough to make me smile and I looked back down at him with another nod of my head. I don't know how he managed to improve my mood in the span of a few seconds but Zachary Goode doing an underwater acrobats was exactly what I wanted to see.

Pleased with the new improvement in mood, Zach took a couple of steps back, sucked in a deep breath and then threw himself forward. His legs shot out of the water for a split second before teetering around and falling. When he resurfaced he was laughing, a huge change to the darkness I had seen in his face earlier.

"God that sucked," I groaned, pushing off the edge of the pool. "You were up for like .02 seconds."

Zach's eyebrows rose in mock offense. "If you're so good you do one then."

I scoffed, more than ready to accept the challenge. I was a handstand pro and I was about to make him look so stupid. "Watch and learn," I bragged, before dunking my head underwater and folding onto my hands.

I stood up straight-now upside down-and began to walk on my hands around the pool. Years of practicing in the Gallagher swim team pool had prepared me for this moment- I was putting Zach to shame.

I walked on through the pool for a few more seconds until suddenly I ran into something. It wasn't the edge of the pool, I was far from it, and it wasn't until Zach grabbed me by the waist and legs and flipped me over that I even realized it was him.

"Hey!" I yelled indignantly when my head reached above the water. "I was doing so good!"

I brushed the water out of my eyes and opened them only to find that I was a few inches from Zach's face. I hadn't realized that he was still holding onto me, his arm wrapped around my waist from where he had somersaulted me upright.

The stupid confident smirk was back face as he looked down at me. "You were making me look bad."

The first thought that ran through my head was you could literally never look bad. The second was what the hell, Cammie, stop thinking about how hot he is. I could feel my face flaming red and even though I knew he couldn't read my thoughts, the look on his face made me feel like he knew what I was thinking.

We're too close, I said in my head but made absolutely no effort to move away. His body was radiating total heat, making my skin feel so hot I was almost squirmy under his touch. Our faces, separated by probably only two or three inches, were so close I found myself wanting to close the gap between them.

Zach on the other hand wasn't moving any closer to me or farther away. He was just looking at my face, all traces of laughing and joking about handstands totally gone now. His eyes were dark again, studying me in a way that made my stomach jolt. "Do you really only like me when you're drunk?"

His question was the last thing I expected. My stomach was now somersaulting nervously. Lie Cammie, I mentally prodded. I opened my mouth to reply-not quite sure what I was going to say-but just as I did, a piercing sound broke through our silence.

We both jumped back, snapped away from the weird trance we had been in, and Zach made his way towards the edge of the pool where his phone was ringing mercilessly. I watched his back as he dried his hands off on a towel and mentally punched myself in the face for being so disappointed that he wasn't near me anymore. Something in me had wanted him to kiss me and that scared the crap out of me. I pushed those thoughts away and tuned back in to reality.

"Who's calling you at 3 in the morning? Is everything alright?" I asked, walking a bit towards him. Without him grabbing me the pool suddenly seemed much colder.

"Yeah everything's fine, it's just Tina. She calls me sometimes when she can't sleep and we usually talk till she's tired. Hold on a second," Zach replied, sliding his phone unlocked. He pressed it to his ear and even though it wasn't on speaker I could still hear Tina's piercing voice saying, "Babe! I can't sleep!"

Disappointment suddenly weighed heavy on my chest. Tina Walters? Babe? How long had that been going on? Why was that going on? And why the heck did I care so much?

The fun, energizing part of the alcohol suddenly seemed to completely wear off and I was left feeling tired and worn out. I wanted to be in my bed, alone, and asleep. Wrapping myself in a towel, I turned for one millisecond to get one last look at Zach, turned away from me still on the phone. Even though he didn't seem even remotely interested in what Tina was currently blabbering about, I heard him say the words "What? No way that's just crazy."

So, I thought as I turned away and started making my way inside. That's why I hadn't been seeing much of him around lately. Tina Walters and Zachary Goode.

No way. That's just crazy.

A/N: sorry i suck