This chapter is dedicated to Leapordeyes, because I thought her review was really sweet and understanding. Hope you enjoy:) I might be a little rusty, so please review and tell me what you think:)
Zach pulled me closer to his chest, and snuggled me into his muscular chest. "You're crazy," he whispered, shaking his head. He kissed my forehead. "But I love you."
I smiled and hugged Zach. Closing my eyes, I replied, "I love you, too."
I sighed. That day in the hospital seemed so long ago. Ever since we returned from that mission, Solomon and my mom haven't let Zach and I see each other. Liz tried to hack into Blackthorne, but they had upped the security. We were even being forced to stay in an alternate living facility, because they knew Zach would be able to get into Gallagher; he always found a way to get to me. My mother gave a speech earlier in the week, saying we need to learn to reconnect with our sisters, but I couldn't forget Zach. I turned over in my cot and stared at the alarm clock, watching it change. 5:27, 5:28, 5:29, Ring! Ring! 5:30. I sighed again and got up. I sat in bed, just watching the scene before me unfold. Girls were dragging their feet to the bathrooms, slamming down on their alarm clocks, and sighing. Boys changed everything, and now that it was very clear that we weren't going to see them for a long time, no one even bothered to try. Of course, we still put on make up, but we didn't have the same excitement that we did when we were getting ourselves ready for the boys.
"Come on, Cam," Macey said, talking softer than usual. I got up and entered the bathroom, knowing this semester would not be as great as the last one was.
~ZC~
"Good morning, girls. I know this isn't exactly the semester we had in mind, but due to the events of last semester, I have decided that we need to remember our roots." My mom kept on talking as I picked at my breakfast.
"Cammie, it's okay," Liz assured me, reaching out to hold my hand.
"No it's not. She's the reason we can't see the Blackthorne Boys anymore. She's the reason we're stuck in this stupid facility. She's the reaso-"
"Shut up, Tina. None of the boys liked you anyways," Macey snapped, immediately shutting Tina up. Tina mumbled something and started stabbing at her eggs. I watched and sighed, remembering how Zach did that last semester.
"Come on, Cam. Just ignore her." Bex had been really supportive throughout all of this, but I could tell she was sad that she couldn't see Grant. But Grant was allowed to send her letters; they just had to be cleared with Dr. Steve first, which wasn't very difficult. I think the hard part for Grant was having to let someone else besides Bex read the letters. The boys probably tortured him to no end about it. But Grant's a tough cookie. Plus, Zach's on his side, and those arms aren't just nice things to look at, to touch, to feel the way you feel so protected when he wraps his arms around you.
"Snap out of it," Bex told me, putting my glass of orange juice to my face. The rush of coldness made me jump slightly.
"You're right. It's just..." I trailed off, not knowing how to explain and not really wanting to. Being without Zach left me numb in a way. I still was aware of what went on around me, but I didn't want to be a part of it. Most of the time, I could pretend everything was okay, but my friends knew I was hurting, and everyone around me knew it was my fault that we're in this situation.
Suddenly, Solomon's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Girls, as you know, this retreat is all about reconnecting. So we will be performing simple trust exercises, progressing to the more difficult missions."
"Retreat?" Tina interrupted (surprise surprise). "I thought we were going to be here all semester."
"No Ms. Walters. We will only be here for three weeks; however, I would like for all of you to make the most of your time here as possible. Try to branch out from your groups." He looked directly at Liz, Bex, Macey, and I when he said this. "You might discover you have more valuable allies than you thought. That is all." sat down and looked down. He was checking something on his phone, but I couldn't tell what. Wait, since when does Mr. Solomon have a phone? I thought. Phones can be tracked, and as a spy, he should know that.
My friends noticed me staring, and Bex whispered, "What are you thinking?" following my gaze back to Solomon.
I kept on staring at Solomon. Finally, I furrowed my eyebrows and muttered, "Nothing," but I kept my eyes on my CoveOps teacher. I wasn't going to make a big deal out of something that was most likely nothing. Not yet, at least. I looked back to my three friends and found them all staring me down, knowing that I was on to something. "I'll tell you later," I compromised. "Let's just get through the day first."
We all nodded in agreement (some quicker than others) and headed off to our classes. Bex and I still had CoveOps together, and Liz was still on the technological path. Macey, however, was in a world all her own. She began spending a lot of her time in the library, researching and digging up any information she could find. What type of information I have no idea. At first, I decided to let Macey be Macey. I figured she was having some sort of phase. But she was persistent in her library trips. Obviously, the library here wasn't as informative as the one back at Gallagher, but Macey is reading anything she can get her hands on. I decided to shake the thoughts from my head, because CoveOps required my full attention.
"Okay, ladies, today we will be focusing on trust. Get into partners and meet me outside." I immediately reached for Bex, but Mr. Solomon said, "Ms. Morgan, why don't you pair up with Ms. Walters?"
"Um, no thank you," I responded politely. I didn't want to disrespect Mr. Solomon, but I really did not want to work with Tina.
"Ms. Morgan, in the real world, you won't always be allowed to choose who you work with. Now please walk with Ms. Walters and join the rest of us outside." I sighed and walked to Tina.
"I don't enjoy this any more than you do Morgan," Tina said. As soon as we walked outside, we began with a simple exercise.
Mr. Solomon began, "Now, the objective is not to let your partner be compromised. I will give each pair an envelope containing their role. However, the positions of these teams will not be revealed. You must protect your partner by all costs. Understand?" Solomon began passing out envelopes.
We all said in a chorus, "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, put in your comms unit and spread out." We obeyed and wandered about campus. I remembered the writing in the envelope. Tina was after the Blackthorne alumni and I had to protect her.
"Aaahhh!" My head spun and looked back to see Tina on the ground. I ran over to her.
"Tina, what's wrong?" I frantically tried to check her. She was clutching her stomach, so I checked for any damage to the ribs, but I couldn't find anything. Soon, everyone rushed over.
Solomon bent down and asked her the same thing I had just minutes before.
"Cammie saw someone attacking and didn't defend me," she sniffled, clutching her stomach even harder. "She thought I had the real alumni list from Blackthorne and wanted to track down Zach. But I-"
"What?" I screamed. "I didn-"
"Ms. Morgan, please keep quiet. Ms. Walters, why don't you go down to the medical wing and let someone check you out? I'll deal with Ms. Morgan." Tina sniffled and nodded, attempting to get up slowly.
"You're one heck of an actor, you know that?" I whispered as she passed me. She slammed her shoulder into mine and just gave me a dirty look.
"Ow, Cammie!" she whimpered, holding her shoulder. Some students gasped, while others rolled their eyes.
"Come on, Ms. Walters, just hurry and get yourself checked out," Mr. Solomon said. Tina nodded again, clutching herself as if she had to hold herself together."Ms. Morgan, may I have a word with you?" I sighed and followed him as he walked into the building. "The rest of you ladies, spar for the time being.
"Mr. Solomon, I didn't d-"
"I know, Cammie." His face changed from serious teacher Solomon to the Solomon that tries to understand my situation. "I know you miss Mr. Goode, but your relationship endangers not only your lives, but the lives of the people that surround you." I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off. "Now I understand the mission you two went on last semester was for the safety of our best spies, but you need training right now. No matter how good you are now, you need to be better. It's the only thing that will keep you alive in this world."
"I know, but..." I trailed off. I didn't want to talk boys with Solomon. I didn't want to tell him how much I missed Zach, because he would just say it was for our own good. But I did it anyway. "I miss him so much."
Then Mr. Solomon did something that surprised me. He took me in his arms and hugged me. It felt like the hugs my dad would give me if he were here. I felt like just standing there and crying. "I know," he whispered, rubbing my back soothingly. "But it's for the best." Called it I internally chuckled.
"I know, but I just wish.. I wish it could be different," I said against his chest. "I just want to.." I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being stupid. I just-"
"Cameron Anne Morgan, you are not stupid," he said strongly. I looked up at him and saw something in his eyes. Love? He sighed. "Head on to your next class. I'll send a note to your mother to change classes earlier."
"Thank you," I whispered. I could see that he knew I was very fragile right now. Mr. Solomon just smiled and told me it was no problem. I went on to my next class and tried to endure. I knew I would have to do a lot of talking once the school day was over.
