A/N: Today is my best friend Em's birthday, and to help her celebrate, I'm writing this fic (even though I bought her an actual present, this chick is WEIRD. haha, just kidding Em love, if you read this.) Because this is her favorite ship, and I'm her favorite person (ha!), HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
Disclaimer: Do I look like Ally Carter to you?
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"Hey, Gallagher girl." It was almost pathetic how that phrase could make me somehow turn into a mass of jello. Spineless, jiggly, head-over-heels jello, that is. It wasn't the words themselves, it was mainly the tone, and well, the speaker.
Let's face it, I had it bad for Zach Goode.
But tonight, that piece of painfully obvious truth wasn't the point. Mr. Solomon had, for lack of a better word, kidnapped our Covert Operation class at midnight and thrown us into a bus headed for nowhere. Nowhere was the perfect description of the barren crop field he had abandoned us in. Besides our small class, there was absolutely no sign of life for miles. If we were any other normal high schoolers, this would have been the perfect backdrop to just goof off, but Solomon left us with deadly serious words.
"Keep your eyes peered for everything and everyone." What could he have meant, everything and everyone? We were completely and utterly alone.
Not forgetting our training, however, everyone quickly paired off in an attempt to search the area. Grant latched on to Bex immediately, even muttering something about "watching out for the girls", as if Bex needed any sort of help. Bex and I shared a sympathetic eye roll, though I was a teeny bit happy that we weren't paired up. That left me to go searching with-
"Will you come with me, Zach?" Tina giggled, batting her eyelashes and not letting down her kung fu grip on him. It was one thing to have a couple obsessed girls who stalked you, but to have obsessed stalker girls who could most likely paralyze you, that had to be tough.
"As if, Tina. He's coming with me." Eva scowled, grabbing Zach's other arm. Instead of panicking, he just smiled politely, as if he was suddenly too well-mannered to tell these girls to lay off. Eventually, he shook them off of his muscular arms-muscular? Ugh, I didn't mean it like that, I could feel my face heating up, like everyone could suddenly hear me. It was kind of obvious that Zach had his hands full with both of them, so I decided to turn in the other direction to see if I could triple with Bex and Grant.
Now, I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't scared. But I wasn't scared for my life, I was scared for my grades. Solomon always advised us that a spy alone was a weak one, even if we were just trying to catch up with some quick footed friends.
Suddenly, I stopped walking dead in my tracks. I heard faint footsteps and I knew that the other groups were too far to hear. Inhaling slowly, I continued walking with all of my senses on high alert. The footsteps were back and louder, speeding up as I did. My anxiety was getting the better of me and I knew it would be smarter to stay around and confront the follower, but I set off in the fastest sprint I could manage. Once I caught my stride, I felt like I was flying. Flying so fast that I didn't notice the person near me.
"You scared, Gallagher girl?" Zach whispered to me, sending chilly tingles through my body.
"Never."
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Eventually, we had to stop, no matter how much I enjoyed sprinting with him at my side. I had to admit I did a little internal victory dance when I realized he ditched his groupies for me. Of course, I knew he would deny doing any such thing, but its the thought that counts, right?
We decided to just sit and catch our breath in a small clearing. Though the air smelled faintly of manure and we were on a Cove-Ops assignment, I couldn't help but smile a bit. Maybe in some world, a boy and girl sitting under the moonlight would have been romantic. But, we weren't just any other boy or girl, and it killed me to think of that.
Before I knew it, I was daydreaming. My mom always said I had an overactive imagination. I closed my eyes and pictured Zach and I, older and much wiser. Hopefully I would grow out of this ugly-duckling stage. We would meet up in a Parisian cafe (because, that's just where you meet past loves) as successful spies, and would discuss international affairs and the best way to break into a government building.
A girl could dream, right?
"Truth or dare?" Zach's hoarse voice interrupted my somewhat pathetic fantasy and I snapped back to reality. I noticed that his bright green eyes had a tiny spark, as if he was planning to wreak havoc on something, more likely someone.
"What?" I couldn't help but laugh, this is something Liz would pull if she was bored. We've played Truth or Dare (mostly dare) more times than I could count. Macey and Liz both loved asking deep, philosophical questions and doing some girl bonding. Bex, on the other hand, preferred to dare us to do impossible (and illegal) tasks like hijacking a government helicopter and landing it on the school roof. If steered the wrong way, Bex would most likely be a criminal mastermind.
"You heard me. Truth or dare, I thought girls loved this kind of thing?" He admitted, somewhat embarrassed.
"Funny, because I thought that boys hated this kind of thing." I replied, trying to stifle my laugh. "Fine. I pick truth." I added quickly, taking the safest route. If Bex would dare me to go feed 50 hungry sharks under a minute, then I didn't want to know what he had in mind.
"Taking the wimp's way out?" Zach grinned devilishly, lightly poking me in the shoulder.
"Its not wimpy. Strategically, its the smarter way to go." While defending myself, my hoarse voice cracked once more, causing me to blush again. Great, what if Zach secretly couldn't stand girls with gravely voices? Or he preferred blonds, like Tina? Or what if he didn't even like girls who could beat him up, and -gag me-, wanted a girl like DeeDee?
Thankfully, he interrupted me before I could send myself into an early grave with my insecurities. "Fine, you can have a truth." He was silent for a couple more minutes, obviously thinking up some stupid question. Minutes dragged on for what seemed like hours, with me sitting far too close to the one boy who had the ability to demolish my walls.
Finally, I couldn't take it. "Zach, ask the question." I demanded, making my tone harsher. It was something I learned from Macey: tone is everything.
He looked up at me, just studying my face. Even though he wasn't smiling, that little mischievous glint was still in his eyes. "Whatever you say, Cammie. But of course, you understand the rules of this game?"
"What rules?" How complex was Truth or Dare? You either tell the truth or do whatever they tell you to.
"You have to answer this question as truthfully as you can. No buts, no hesitations. I want a yes or no answer, you got that?" He explained, sitting up straighter and shifting his body to face me head on.
"Deal. Just ask the question."
For a couple seconds, Zach's face really lit up, like a little kid on Christmas morning. Green eyes were glittering, his dark hair almost blending into the cloudless backdrop. Had I forgotten how good looking he was?
He seemed hesitant to ask the question, but stared into my eyes intently. "All right, the question is coming. It should be arriving soon. Drumroll, please-"
"Zach! Ask the question!" I nearly shrieked, the anticipation was killing me.
Zach laughed a little to himself before attempting to pull on a straight face. "Okay, then. Do you, Cammie Morgan, still have feelings for What's-His-Face?"
"Josh." I corrected him immediately before my mind fully registered the question. Did I still like Josh? Why would he ask that? Then, as if my brain started doing instant replays, I heard it again. And again, and many more times before I had to shut out every thing about Josh, His eyes, his smile, the fact he liked me for me. How could I answer?
Then, one word just flew out of my mouth. Unprepared, not thought out.
"No." I replied slowly, even surprising myself for answering so quickly. Yes, Josh was amazing. But, did we reallt have anything in common? Could I bear to keep hiding my real life from him?
Immediately, I checked Zach for his reaction. He seemed more relaxed and happy, as if something tense in him had just evaporated with my answer.
"Why would you ask me that?" I queried, getting over the rush of being so honest with him. Now, I may not have a lot of experience with boys, but I knew Zach. He didn't ask questions like this. He studied and nosed his way into everyone's business until he got his answer, he was a spy. Spies are never upfront.
"So I wouldn't feel bad about this." And before I knew it, we were kissing. Kissing. My heart was racing so fast, I felt like I would just float away. Two minutes ago I was worried Zach hated my voice, only to have the two of us, cherry red lips to pink lips, kissing. I wasn't thinking, even my subconscious was celebrating. The area around us seem to disappear, leaving Zach and I in our own little word.
Yes, we were on an assignment, and yes we were spies. But tonight, if only for tonight, we were just a boy and a girl under the moonlight.
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a/n: For Em, happy birthday =)
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