I buttoned my blazer and sighed, staring down at the Gallagher School for Spies badge sewed onto the upper lefthand corner. Here I was, beginning a new semester of Junior year at the spy school for girls, AGAIN. Starting alone, just like always. Well, okay, not alone. There was Macie and Liz and Bex and Mom....but there was no Zach. And no Josh. I sighed again, and smacked my glossy lips together, flipping my dirty blonde hair over my shoulder, pretending to be confident. Cuz i sooo wasn't. And I, Cameron Morgan was always confident. I was a spy. It was my job to die for the United States of America. And here I was, feeling lousy, because the two boys that I had actually liked were gone. Please. This was sad.
"Cammie, there you are. Gosh, we've been searching the entire mansion for you! Let's go...Solomen will have a fit if we're late....," Bex said, ,rushing into the dorm. Her jetblack hair was glossy, as usual, and her cat-like eyes shone. Macie and Liz came in behind her, panting heavily. "Cammie!"
"Coming, coming...," I said, and followed my friends out of the room.
New semesters were the times to start fresh. So how come I felt so...so...old and tarnished? My heartbeat was fast and my pulse raced. There were no boys swarming the hallways. No snide Zach-like remarks coming from behind. Just a swarm of chatty girls, clutching books to their chests, and eyeing new girls, suspiciously. This was The Gallagher Academy. This was how it was supposed to be. And this was how it all was....BEFORE the Blackthorne institue for Boys intruded. And then everything changed. And as much as I wanted to shake off the thought, nothing was ever going to be the same again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Lying," began Solomen. "Is a devious thing. And it's more difficult to do than any of us can imagine." He was pacing the room, twiddling a black bullpoint pen in between his fingers. I sighed and flashed a note at Macie.
"HELP," it read. Macie giggled. "RELAX CAM. ITS ONLY THE FIRST DAY OF THE SEMESTER," she scribbled back. I rolled my eyes. Just what I needed. Thanks, Mace.
"Cammie." I shot my mind back into reality mide. Obviously Solomen was gonna pick on me. It was what he lived to do. Oh, yea, and to flirt with my mom.
"Tell me a lie. Any lie," he demanded. My face reddened, but being the spy I was, I was able to conceal it. "My name is Hillary Duff," I said, lightly, and flashed a toothy smile at my scowling teacher. "Humorous, Miss Morgan. Quite entertaining. I would have believed you if I didn't already know your name...perhaps. Tell me another lie, Cammie. Something a little less obvious to the world, " he said, clucking his tongue pestily.
"My toothbrush is purple," I said, my voice quavering slightly at the last syllable.
"You're lying," Solomen shot back, almost instantaneously.
"Well, yea. You told me to lie," I said, chewing on my lip. Solomen sighed. "Yes, but even if I hadn't told you to lie, I still would have known you were lying."
I shook my head. "And how is that?"
"Slightly blushing face. Higher octave verbal key. Shaking voice. It's all in the mind. You need to observe," he siad, now turning his attention to the rest of the class.
"Pair up," he commanded. "And lie."
Well, that was a normal assignment, wasn't it? Just another clue to show you that I didn't go to just any school. I went to the Gallagher Academy. An Academy where the teachers instructed you on lying, killing, and a lengthy list of other crimes.
I glanced over at my right to see who my partner would be. Andria Jackabee. Quiet girl with hair out to who knows where. Where was Zach when you needed him?
"Hey, Andria. Okay, who should lie first?," I asked, squeezing my desk against her. She shrugged, not looking up. Great, just awesome. I had a lying partner who not only wasn't capable of lying, but was mute too
"Ok. I guess that leaves me. Uh, Andria. You need to LOOK into my eyes when I lie," I said, nudging her on the shoulder. Andira looked up at me, tentatively.
"Ok. So tell me if I'm telling the truth...," I began, racking my brains for something to say. "Uh...I miss having the Blackthorne guys around here," I said. I shook my head, involuntarily. I did not know WHERE that had come from.
"No blushing. No higher octaves in your verbal language. No shaky voice. Cammie, you just told the truth," Andira decided, pleased with her observation. I groaned. I HAD just told the truth. And now Andria had me figured out.
"Okay, guys. Show me what you all did," Solomen's voice echoed off the steel walls of the Cov-op classroom. A hush fell over the class, and then it was silent.
"Cammie and Andrea." Whoa, shocker.
"Replay what you guys just did," Solomen said, his hands folded over his chest, and his deep green eyes squinting sharply.
No. No WAY was I admitting anything in front of the entire Junior class. This so was not happening in the present era.
So I did what spies were trained to do. I lied some more.
"My best friend's name is Jason Hatterford," I said, speaking on a high key, and shaking my voice, purposely. Andrea squinted her eyes at me, perplexed. I nudged her thigh with my hand and threw her a pleading "please just go along with me" look.
"Uh...you're lying, because you, uh...blushed." Okay, so I left that part out, but a even a spy couldn't force any scientific changes in her blood. "And you, um, spoke really high and shakily," Andrea said, her own voice, slightly unbalanced. Great, Andrea. Do you know how to speak without using the word "uh" and "um" every other second?
Solomen poked his tongue into the side of his cheek, and I saw it roll around the side of his gum a few times before he spoke again. "See me after class, you guys. Alright, Helen and Bex, you're up," he said, turning away from us.
Andrea glared at me through the rest of Cov-Ops class. What had she expected from me, anyway? Was I supposed to admit to the universe that I missed Zach? No. I was strong and confident and ready to face the world. I groaned. I so wasn't.