Hey all! Oh my god it has been so, so, so, so long since I have updated! I am sorry! So long, that I am actually preparing to go to college at the moment. It's nerve wracking but so exciting. I hope everyone has been doing well! Enjoy!
Abby's POV
Dinner was delicious, however my mind was more focused on other, more important matters. Such as Cam, Rachel, The girls, even Zach. I have always been known as the one that can handle the loss, the one who is the rock for everyone else. I really don't know what to do at this moment, we've trained her too well, and now we must wait. But I can't bare to see what all this waiting has done to everyone.
We all silently walk back up to the girl's room to continue reading, and I slowly fall back into step with Rachel. We don't need to say anything to be there for each other, we never have.
As the kids excuse themselves to go change into pajamas, I walk slowly around the room. I've checked it a million and one times since Cammie has left (okay more like 29 times) but I find comfort in noticing things. Like how Liz has a photo of her family next to her bed, as well as 11 school books. Macey has a hairbrush and a lipstick that I know is actually a small knife. Bex's bedside table is empty, as a spy can not afford to display personal objects, something her parents must have told her. However, Cam follows her own rules, her table has a photo of Matt, Rachel, and her as a 6 year old, another photo of her and the girls. In her table there is a brush and a book, as well as some Peanunt M&M's. The more I observe the more and more I see that she is so much of both her mother and her father.
"Alright, so where did we leave off?" Macey says as she exits her closet with Bex and Liz. Zach, who wastes no time, has already changed and is handing me the journal.
"Here. You said you'd read next."
Summary of Communication
On October 18, during a routine Driver's Ed assignment, The Operatives noticed that the "fill sign" was marked (in other words, the stone was turned) at the designated dead letter drop,
"I can not believe that she kept using classes to see this boy," I begin, but am interrupted by Joe.
"Well I can,"
"You didn't let me finish. I can not believe that she kept using her classes to see this boy, I am so proud."
"Abigail."
"Come on, Rach. You had to have been proud too."
"Yeah, I was."
so Agent Morgan faked a stomachache when everyone else was engaged in a Gilmore Girls marathon and went to retrieve the following: Okay, so if your dad's not Aquaman, is he The Flash? Translation: Please think I'm funny, because my self-esteem is fairly low, and humor may be all I have going for me. (Translation done by Macey McHenry)
"Ooo, harsh."
"Shut up Goode, it's the truth. You met him."
"Yeah, I didn't think Jimmy was anything to write home about."
After a brief reply from The Operatives, The Subject wrote back the following week: Today my shop teacher gave me detention for not properly sanding a birdhouse. Then my dad told me I should start helping him at the pharmacy two nights a week. When I got home, I found out that my mother made 18 different types of banana bread, and I had to taste-test each one. It was torture. How was your day? Translation: I feel very comfortable sharing things with you because you are separate from my ordinary, mundane life. Leaving these notes and having clandestine meetings is exciting. Having a relationship with you is new and unique, and I'm enjoying it. (Translation done by Macey McHenry, with assistance from Elizabeth Sutton.)
"Secret relationships are hot," Macey says and I smile. Everything Cam did here, although innocent, was reckless but she needed to learn.
The Operatives took this message as a positive sign and fully expected The Subject to continue communication. A level of trust seemed to be building, and The Operatives felt as if The Subject may soon be ready to be called on to act. The Subject was making excellent progress. Then they recieved the following: This is crazy. You know that right? Translation: While I enjoyed the temporary release from normalcy this relationship provides, I can see that it is impractical in the long run. However, I am willing to see where it goes. (Translation done by Macey McHenry.) Following this communication, The Operatives knew that it was important to proceed slowly in order to bring The Subject along at a manageable pace.
"It's interesting to see how the teenagers we teach take our lessons and use them in their own ways. This was not the intended purpose of a dead letter drop, however it is great training." Joe says, and it is kinda concerning to see how much he has become a teacher internally. I never saw Joe as a teacher but he plays the role well.
They agreed that any mentions of dates, making out, and any sort of formal events should be postponed indefinitely. Another week passed before The Operatives recieved there most significant piece of communication to date: Is there any chance you can come to the movies this Friday? I know you may not be able to, but I'll be here (at our place) at seven if you can. Translation: WE'RE IN! (Translation done by Cameron Morgan and verified by Macey McHenry.) We had a place! We had a date-to the movies! My euphoria lasted from the time I picked up the note and all the way through our customary debrief up in the suite. By the next morning, however, I wasn't thinking like a girl-I was thinking like a spy. What if movies were the favorite pastime of the guys in the Gallagher Maintenance Department? Or, what if the movie was gross and I got nauseous and puked Milk Duds everywhere? MILK DUDS! What if I got caramel in my teeth and had to go digging around in a molar or something to get it out? There is simply no attractive way of doing that What was I going to do-only eat popcorn? But then the same thing could happen with the little kernel pieces! Oh my gosh!
As someone who has been on dates before I can agree that some of those questions do swirl through a girls mind because, as both a girl and a spy, sometimes we are trained to picture the worse possible scenario, and be prepared for it. Zach was just rolling his eyes at almost every different concern.
I had an Organic Chemistry test and a Conversational Swahili exam, but both of those things seemed like child's play compared to the dilemma at hand-right until Macey joined us at our lunch table and said, "Junior Mints." Junior Mints-of course! Minty chocolate fun with none of the dangerous side effects. I take back everything I ever said about her ever in my life. MACEY McHENRY IS A GENIUS!
Macey looks kind of offended, however I think she was remembering how she acted when she first arrived, because the look subsides.
"It was genius Mace, and I've used that once or twice back in London." Bex says with a wink.
"What!? Bex you've never told us about any guys," Liz says
"Nah I guess I haven't. None of them were ever really that great."
Liz was looking at the note, comparing it against the others she'd already run through the lab to see if the chemical composition of the paper or the ink could tell us anything. (It did-he shops at Wal-Mart.) "Notice how he tilts the M in movie," Liz said, holding the note towards us. "I think I remember reading that this shows a tendency to..." But a tendency to what, we'd never find out, because just then the sophomore lunch tables went quiet in a way that could only ever mean one thing. "Hello, ladies," Joe Solomon said, but not before I snatched the piece of paper and crammed it in my mouth,
"See I thought that I saw some movement, but I dismissed it thinking it was simple girl stuff."
"Well Mr. Solomon, in a way it was, because although it wasn't very simple it was between four girls and so,"
"Thank you Elizabeth. I meant that I thought it was gossip or something of that sense."
Liz makes a subtle 'oops' and goes red, I smile, she just has this lovable aura to her, something that may come in handy in the future.
which ordinarily would have been really great spy maneuvering except that Josh doesn't use Evapopaper. "How's the lasagna?" Mr. Solomon asked, and I started to say something before I remembered that my mouth was...well...otherwise engaged. "The Gallagher Academy career fair is this Friday evening," Mr. Solomon said. My roommates and I all looked at each other- the exact same thing crossing our minds- this Friday evening!"
"Of course, because a spy's life can never be simple," Bex says.
"Tell me about it, Boston." Macey reminds us all, "Cam and I thought it was a training exercise at first, because a spy's training doesn't have vacations."
"It's the life you've signed up for ladies," I smirk at them, "But, it has it's good moments too."
Here's a list of agencies and firms that will be represented." He tossed a stack of flyers onto the long table. "Great chance to see what's out there-especially for those of you who won't be joining me in Sublevel Two." Okay, I admit it. That part made me swallow a little paper.
"I know you were trying to make Cam not want to be a pavement artist, Joseph, but did you have to be so harsh." Rachel says, turning to look at Joe who didn't seem embarrassed or upset at all now.
"Yes. She had to know what she was getting herself into, and I wanted her to be truly prepared."
After Mr. Solomon left, I spat out what was left of Josh's note (which luckily included all of the writing) and stared at it and the shiny flyer, which announced a chance for me to chart the course of the rest of my life. I wasn't hungry anymore. Career day at spy school is probably like career days at regular schools except...well...we probably have a lot more guests who arrive by rappelling out of black helicopters. (The guys from Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms have always been kinda show-offy.) The hallways were full of folding tables and cheesy banners. (GO ALL THE WAY WITH THE NSA-who thinks of this stuff?)
"That is oddly sexual for a secret agency," Zachary scoffs.
"Well hey it grabbed your attention, that's what they want." Bex says back, amused.
"I would say fight me, however I wouldn't want to hurt you, Rebecca." Bex just glared in response.
Every classroom had a scout perched at a back table watching in amazement as we went through our routines. Even P&E was crawling with spies-literally-as we spread out in the barn and showed off our overall lethal-ness for the recruiters. "Don't take my head off!" Liz cried. I wasn't sure if she was talking about the roundhouse kick that had just passed inches from her nose or the fact that Bex was refusing to consider postponing my big date. In any case, I was fairly certain we probably shouldn't be having that conversation in a hayloft full of current and future government agents. Lights cascaded through the skylights. Barn swallows nested in the rafters up above. And ten feet away, Tina Walters was showing an agent from the FBI how we'd learned to kill a man with a piece of uncooked spaghetti.
"You still teach that! But you wont teach the lemon chloroform stuff!" I ask.
"I told you! That technique is still banned. We can't teach it."
"Can't or wont?"
"Guys!" I snapped. A whistle blew, telling us it was time to shift positions, so Bex came to stand behind me. As she wrapped her arms around my neck, she whispered in my ear, "Crowded corridors. Tons of people. No one will miss you-not The Chameleon." I flipped her over my back and glared at her as she lay sprawled on the mat beneath me. "I think you have to cancel," Liz said as she charged at me. I slid aside and dropped her neatly to the mat next to Bex. She pushed up on her elbows and whispered, "This is an opportunity for the Gallagher Girls of today to decide how they will become the Gallagher Women of tomorrow." (Or so we'd read on the flyer.)
I shook my head. "You have been headmistress for what five years now? (I want to think that she became headmistress when Cammie would have been in the 6th grade and Cammie would have just stayed on Campus with her mother or was in Nebraska with her grandparents) And you still have'nt changed that stupid slogan.
"If it's not broken don't fix it."
"I thought it was great." Liz says.
I was just starting to feel in control of the situation, when Bex's leg swung swiftly around, catching me off guard, dropping me to the top of the pile. "Yeah, like Cammie doesn't know what she's going to be when she grows up." Before I could reply, we saw a man walking towards us, so we scrambled to our feet. He wasn't tall or short; he wasn't handsome or ugly. He was the kind of person you could see a dozen times and never quite remember, and with just one glance I knew he was a pavement artist-I knew he was like me. "Very nice," the man said. There was no telling how long he'd been in that crowded loft, watching. "You girls are sophomores, is that right?" There was an extra bounce in Bex's step as she inched toward him. "Yes, sir," she said, her voice full of swagger. "And you're all studying Covert Operations?" he asked with a sideways glance at Liz, who had somehow gotten her hair tangled in the laces of my shoe.
"Liz, how does that even happen?" Zach asks, but not in a condescending way, in a concerned way. It seems like Zach has a bit of a softer side to him.
"I don't really know. After she flipped me, I went to stand up and I couldn't cause my hair was all tangled."
"It was a sight to see though." Bex laughs softly at the memory.
"Just for the semester," Liz said, sounding totally relieved. "Next semester we can specialize if we want to," Bex clarified. "But a lot of us continue training for fieldwork." I'm pretty sure she was getting ready to slip into the conversation how she got to be lookout for her dad once while he took out an arms dealer at an outdoor market in Cairo, but the man didn't give her a chance. "Well," he said. "I'll let you get back to your practiced." He placed his hands in his pockets and smiled. When he turned to walk away, I didn't think he'd seen me at all, until he glanced in my direction and nodded. "Ms. Morgan." If he'd had a hat he would have tipped it.
"I still don't think that Cam know how much the spy world respects her and all she has done already." Rachel says.
"Well, remember who her parents are too. She's got a lot going for her." I respond.
"And who her aunt is." Joe cuts in.
On the other side of the room, Ms. Hancock blew her whistle again and yelled, "Circle up, girls. Let's show our guests how we play rock-paper-scissors."
"How do you play rock-paper-scissors?" Zach asks.
"It is basically the same rules as normal, however there are three fighting moves that you pick, and every time someones move beats yours you take a step back. First person off of the mat loses." Bex explains.
OPERATION DIVIDE AND CONQUER The operation, which took place on Friday night, October 29, was a basic four-man op with three agents holding in secure sweeping patterns throughout the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. The Reserve Operatives were assigned a portion of the main campus and when asked where Agent Morgan was, The Operatives were to reply "I don't know" or "I just saw her heading that way" while pointing in a very general direction. If asked more directly about the location of Agent Morgan, The Operatives were to exclaim, "You just missed her!" and then walk away very quickly.
"That's a bit suspicious don't you think girl?" Joe asks
"Maybe, but if you can't corner us then you can't question us." Macey says and I think Joe seems a little impressed with that logic.
I followed Bex and Macey through the corridors. Sounds bounced off the hardwood floors and stone walls as newbies drooled over the Mr. Solomon-like recruiters from the CIA, and a flock of seventh graders oohed and aahed over the latest satellite feeds from Homeland Security. (So that's what Brad Pitt's bedroom looks like...) Bex was totally right. I've seen the Gallagher Academy in states of organized chaos before, but never have I seen it so alive. The air was full of something (and not just the gasses that had escaped from the labs when someone from Interpol got a little too close to one of Dr. Fibs's classified projects). "Okay," Bex said to me beneath her breath. "Knock 'em dead." I glanced at Macey. "You'll be fine," she said, and I started to feel really good. Then she finished. "Just don't be an idiot."
"Good advice Macey."
"Why thank you."
I can't tell if she didn't notice Zach's sarcasm, or if she just chose to ignore it.
I turned down an empty corridor, leaving the sounds of our future behind me, and sensed something else drawing closer. I reached out for the tapestry and the crest-slash-trigger behind it, when I stopped frozen at the sound of my name. "You must be Cameron Morgan." The man strolling toward me had a dark suit, dark hair, and eyes so black they could get completely lost in the night. "And where are you running off to?" the man asked. "oh, they needed more napkins at the refreshments table." (Whether you agree or disagree with my actions, you've got to admit that my fibbing ability was totally getting better.)
"That's debatable." He laughed. "oh, child, don't you know that anyone with your pedigree should never have to fetch the napkins?" I stared blankly at him, unable to smile, until he extended his hand. "I'm Max Edwards. I knew your father." Of course he did. I'd met half a dozen men like Max Edwards already that day-men with stories, men with secrets-all wanting to pull me aside and return a little piece of my father to me. Even without Josh waiting for me at the end of the tunnel, I think I might have felt like running the other way.
"Well you're her mother, you should be able to tell when she's lying."
"Come on Abby, mom could never tell when you were lying to her."
"Yeah, that's cause I am a fantastic liar."
"I would want to too, he seems suspicious," Liz mumbles.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"I'm saying that from this description and what Cam said he seems suspicious. His table was clear on the other side of the school, and unless he was following Cam he had no real reason to be over there."
"Oh yeah, the Interpol table was down in the great hall, Cam was up a couple of floors, away from everything." Bex remembers.
I look over at Joe and we both are thinking the same thing. Matt never like Max Edwards either.
"I'm with Interpol now." Max Edwards said, eyeing me. "I know you're a CIA legacy and all, but that's no reason not to give the rest of us a shot, eh?" "No, sir." "Started the CoveOps training yet?" "Yes, sir, with the intro class." "Good. Good. I'm sure Joe Solomon is finding plenty to teach you," he said, patting me on the shoulder, emphasizing the word in a way that I didn't understand. Then he leaned closer and whispered, "I'm going to give you some advice Cammie. Not everyone can live this life, you know. Not everyone has it in their blood-the stress, the risk, the sacrifice." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card with a phone number centered and alone on the plain white background. "Call me anytime. You'll always have a place with us." He patted me on the shoulder again and walked away, his footsteps echoing down the empty stone corridor. I watched him turn the corner; then I counted to ten and slipped behind the tapestry. Halfway down the tunnel, I stopped an changed my clothes. I never saw that card again.
"Cam only wants to be with the CIA, she's told me." Bex says. That makes Rachel smile. I know Rach and Matt were debating letting Cammie into this life, but I think that if they with held her from it they would be doing the agency, and in turn the world, a disservice.
"I think that I will read next, it's been a while since I have," Liz offers, and I pass her the journal.
I hope that you all enjoyed! It feels good to be typing again for fun, and not for applications. Don't forget to leave me a review let me know what you think! I hope to be updating real soon!
See ya later you lovely people!
*~*Smile Through the Rain*~*