I've never liked fancy parties. Something about squeezing myself into a dress, cramming my feet into high heels, and applying makeup completely deters me from fancy occasions of any kind.
In this case, however, it's not like I had a choice. So there I stood at the top of the staircase, my hair flowing down to my shoulders and my gown sweeping the floor. It was a deep emerald color, and – so help me – strapless. Let's just say I've had a few unpleasant experiences in the department of strapless items.
Liz and Bex stood on either side of me. Liz looked cute, while Bex looked stunning. I probably just looked out of place.
"Remind me why we're doing this?" I whispered, gritting my teeth. Bex kept an iron grip on my arm to ensure I didn't bolt back to our room.
"Your mom's having this gala to impress the sponsors into donating more money to Gallagher so we can expand the curriculum," Liz reminded me.
"Don't forget that the people here are also spies," Bex added.
"Essentially, our job is to be charming and encourage funding," Liz continued. It sounded like she was quoting directly from a pamphlet or something. I sighed.
"Let's do this."
Two hours and fifty olives later, I still hadn't been asked to dance. Which was good. In fact, though there was music, not a lot of dancing was going on. The adults socialized while sipping from dainty cocktail glasses. My mom darted from group to group, laughing at all the right moments and greeting old friends.
"Ah, Cameron Morgan, Headmistress Morgan's daughter, I presume?" A man with a thick mustache approached me. Hurriedly I matched his face with a name I'd heard called out earlier, when someone else had addressed him.
"Mr. Guredon, it's pleasure to meet you. You can call me Cammie," I extended a hand, and he grasped it firmly, giving me a hearty shake.
"Excellent! How did you know my name, dear, without me introducing myself?" I flashed him what I hoped was a charming smile.
"Spy," I said, pointing to myself. Mr. Guredon chuckled.
"Hey, Gallagher Girl, that's my line." I dropped Mr. Guredon's hand and whirled around, astonished.
"Zach?"
"Is that how you normally greet people?" he asked, amused. Mr. Guredon's eyes moved from Zach to me.
"I see you two have some catching up to do," he said, smiling courteously at me as he walked away.
I turned to Zach. "What are you doing here?" I half-asked, half-hissed. Zach smirked.
"It's a party. Parties are not things I like to miss," he told me with a wink. His face grew thoughtful as the first few notes of a slow song rang in the air. "Care to dance?"
It was like a giant switch had been flipped in the ballroom, prompting everyone to dance at the same time. All around me I saw gentlemen confront ladies, asking to dance. I looked at Zach. Then at my dress. And sighed.
"Why not?"
Zach led me out to the dance floor while holding onto the crook of my elbow. I strained to find Bex and Liz, but to no avail. Zach placed one hand on the small of my back. His other hand held mine.
"I like your dress," Zach murmured, making eye contact. I blushed.
"Thanks." The rest of the dance passed in silence, but not the awkward kind. When it ended, my mom cleared her throat to make an announcement.
"This is the part where I slip away," Zach whispered, dropping my hand. I looked at my mother, trying to appear as if I was listening, but my thoughts were on Zach's words.
"No, Zach, you can't just –" I turned my head to find Zach already gone. Swiveling back towards my mother, I pretended to listen a little longer and then slipped away, unnoticed.
As I emerged from Gallagher, I saw Zach making his way towards the front gate. On a normal occasion I would have tailed him silently to see where he was going, but my dress kept snagging on things, so I decided that I would just catch his attention.
"Zach! Wait!" I called, balling up the fabric of my dress in one hand. Zach turned to me with a sigh.
"Gallagher Girl, have you ever heard the saying 'Curiosity killed the cat'?" he asked, running a hand through his mop of dark brown hair.
"Actually," I mumbled, "I think these heels are what's going to kill me." I took a step forward and stumbled, falling (completely unintentionally) into Zach's outstretched arms.
"Why do you keep following where you're not supposed to?" Zach asked me, murmuring into my hair. I pulled back and looked him in the eye.
"Because you always come and then leave without an explanation. And every time you go, I don't know if you're coming back." My voice caught.
"Cammie." Zach gripped my shoulders. "I'll always come back." He pressed his lips to my forehead and then released me, taking a step back. I stood and watched him walk out the front gates of Gallagher without giving me a second glance.
Oh, the irony.