A/N: Okay, here we go :D I haven't read the series in a while, to be honest, but when I saw that the new book was coming out I got inspired to do this little number. No worries, I've read the series like a million times, so I haven't forgotten too much...

Ash- Yeah right, you had to google how old Cammie was when her dad 'poofed'.

Me- Shh! Ignore her, just some character that likes to ruin my life. Not worth mentioning, rea- Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!

Ash- *Rolls eyes* When is she going to learn not to insult me because I always light her hair on fire afterwards? Sigh. She doesn't own Gallagher Girls, she could never come up with something that good.

So Many Lies, So Little Time

The letter had come months ago, giving me plenty of time to prepare, it gave me all the information that could possibly need to get myself ready. That wasn't the problem. All of my stuff was packed up, I couldn't think of one thing that I could have possibly left behind. On the outside, I was completely ready to go. The problem was what lay underneath. I wasn't ready to go.

It had been four years, four long years of living like an orphan. First her dad had disappeared when she was in sixth grade, then as soon as her mom had gotten the news… she had gone out to find him. There had been no contact with either of them since that time. Until now. The academy that her mother had been over had been temporarily shut down… abandoned, no lights on inside. Until now. I had been slowly recovering from the disappearance of both my parents and the academy that I had always planned to join. The idea had finally sunk in, that I was never going to see any of them. I had been getting over the my mourning… accepting facts and trying to move on. Until now.

I know, I should be happy, right? My mom had finally appeared, though I hadn't seen her yet, and decided to open the academy again. I was going to be a student at Gallagher Academy, I was going to see my mom again! Who wouldn't be thrilled? To be honest: me. I wasn't thrilled. In fact, I was pretty much everything but thrilled. I was angry, hurt, heartbroken, confused, and so many other things… except thrilled. The number one feeling, though, was fear.

There were the normal things to be scared about, my first of school and the fact that I was seeing my mom for the first time in four years. Those weren't the big parts, though. It wasn't just that this was going to be my first day at a new school, it was that I knew the school was different now. It wasn't just that I was seeing my mom for the first time in fours years, it was that I knew she was going to be different now.

Let's start with the school, that'll be an easier subject to talk about for the moment. You see, after my mom left, they had to shut it down because they couldn't find anyone else that was both qualified and willing to run the place. In the after effects, spy parents being a bit annoyed and all this other craziness that broke out, this place called Blackthorne got shut down. I'm not sure on all the details, but I think some parent got mad when she found out that the boys still had a school and found some bad info on the place to get it cut off. So, as the result, Gallagher was now an academy for girls… and boys. I know, so not cool.

With my mom, though… well I know you may think that I'm just paranoid on this, but I've got the facts, alright? It's not just because I'm nervous about seeing her. It's not just me thinking 'what if she's changed', trust me. The look on Ms. Baxter's face had been enough in the beginning. I had been staying with Bex's family since my parents vanished, and my mom had apparently asked to see Ms. Baxter when she suddenly appeared again five months ago, yeah, she had been back for five months and I still hadn't seen her, that should be enough to prove that she had changed somehow. Anyway, when Bex's mom had come back from the meeting with my mom, she had this… this look on her face. At first she would even meet my gaze, avoiding eye contact with me until she could pull up a cover I guess. Then she had just tried to smile at me as if to say 'everything's okay', but I could tell by the look in her eyes. Everything was not okay. Ever since then I had picked up more and more hints that something about my mother… had changed. Nobody talked about her when they saw me coming, but they all gave that stupid pity look, worse than the one they had used to give me when they knew about both my parents being missing.

My heart suddenly started to beat faster as my eyes saw the small town we were going towards. We had just exited the Interstate and were turning into Roseville, Virginia. I could see the Academy becoming bigger and bigger as we neared it, and let out a slight sigh through my tightening throat when I saw the empty drive. No one else was expected to get here for another few days, they had at least given me that much time to get used to my mother again.

A/N- Two words, people, Read and Review! Please! Or two letters, since they say R&R now... well, that's more like two letters and a symbol-

Ash: Shut up.

Me: *Goes to sulk in a corner*