I'm more than a little obsessed with the series. And Zachary Goode.

Constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Chapter One

Cammie Morgan almost wants to cover her face and hide underneath a false sense of security, hoping that no one notices her as she seethes to herself. She mutters a string of string of curse words in German, taking advantage of the fact that she knows that no one around her knows German and continues muttering under her breath until it begins.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over!"

She discreetly scans the audience one last time and listens attentively to the host, even if she knows that he isn't actually going to say anything of importance.

There are one thousand and five hundred people in the crowd. She repeats to herself that there is only a one out of a one thousand and five hundred chance of her being chosen and really, what were the odds?

She forces herself to contort her face into a neutral expression. She sighs to herself, knowing that someone sitting behind her is looking at her, and casually looks at the stage in front of her once again.

Bex Baxter, her best friend, had received two tickets to a dating show from Tina Turner as some sort of strange birthday gift. (Tina's known for her random gifts, so it isn't any surprise that she would give such a type of gift.) Not wanting to waste the tickets, she had managed to convince Cammie to accompany her to the show.

Crossing her arms, Cammie aligns her spine with her seat. She recalls how Bex practically shoved the tickets into her arms, claiming that she couldn't make it.

I don't see why she wanted me to come, Cammie thinks to herself. I didn't even know about dating shows until she mentioned them.

Dating shows are pointless. There isn't anything remotely entertaining or interesting about them, but there she is, watching one. There's a man sitting on stage, obviously trying too hard to appear like a perfect prince charming. He's giving a speech about his undying love for animals, telling a story of how his first arrest consisted of fighting another man for baby birds. Women are crowded on the opposite side of the stage, determining if they liked him or not.

She comforts herself by reminding herself that she isn't participating in the embarrassing game, but she takes out the ticket stub from her pockets and gulps.

One lucky female from the audience will be chosen near the end to join!

She lightly taps her head, forgiving herself for forgetting to dress up as a male at the very least. She couldn't think so negatively. She would be wasting her energy worrying and dreading.

A tall figure slides into the empty seat next to her.

She notices how his green eyes contrasted with his black, slouchy sweater. His sweater is slightly stretched out from his broad shoulders and a black beanie covers his dark hair with the exception of his bangs.

With one glance, she can tell that he's aware of his good looks.

"Excuse me, but that seat is taken."

He looks at her with a slight smirk and holds up his ticket stub between his index and middle finger. "I'm an acquaintance of Bex Baxter."

"Is there a particular reason why she would give you that ticket?" Cammie asks politely, not wanting to follow her initial reaction and grab the ticket from him. She isn't there to attract attention, but to do what she does best—blending in.

"She had a spare ticket," he casually shrugs and slightly leans in.

Cammie feels her heart skip a beat, but she ignores her chest. She knows his type, and she's not willing to give him the satisfaction that he's seeking. She leans back onto her seat and stares intently in front of her, subtly moving away from the boy. She blinks when she catches a whiff of his scent, which seemed to consist of laundry detergent and something else she couldn't pinpoint.

"May I ask you what your name is?"

"You may, but I may not answer," she replies quickly and glances at her watch. It isn't as if she wasn't urging time to race forward, but he was a contributing factor to her desire to jump off her seat and run back to her school.

She's not too fond of dressing up. The female portion of the audience is mainly dressed up in sparkly, sequined dresses in bright colors. On the other hand, Cammie had tossed a navy blue coat over her school uniform and she was currently fighting the urge to pull down her leggings. She's sitting right next to the heater, after all.

She gives into temptation and pulls off her coat, folding it neatly before she holds it in her lap.

"Aren't you all prim and proper?" He speaks again and looks at her with an almost condensing expression that she wanted to punch off his face, no matter how good looking he is. He's lucky he has a nice voice, because he was obviously incapable of silence. "So, Gallagher Girl—"

"I don't recall giving you permission to call me by that," Cammie interrupts in a bored drawl. "If you're bored, you can always watch the show."

He looks amused, and Cammie bites her lip in frustration. She doesn't exactly enjoy being a source of entertainment. She refuses to show it, and she erases all traces of previous subtle irritation off her face.

"I think you're more interesting than the show," he rolls his eyes playfully and drapes his arm on his seat.

At this point, Cammie almost thinks that he's flirting with her. He certainly seems like a player, but she needs to ask one of her best friends, Macey McHenry, for advice. She shakes her head and assures him, "I'm not interesting in the slightest, but thank you for thinking that."

"Gallagher Girl—"

"My name is Cammie Morgan."

He blinks in surprise, but he recovers quickly. He smirks, as if in triumph, and coolly thrust his big hand in front of him. It's almost as if he was expecting a longer period time to learn her name. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Cammie shakes his hand firmly. She's raised with proper manners and she refuses to make her parents ashamed. "Should I call you 'Bex's Acquaintance'? I have a feeling you're not going to use my name."

She doesn't think she could ever get used to the nickname. People would glare at her just from the word "Gallagher", as rich, spoiled brats supposedly attend it.

She's more used to other unofficial nicknames.

The headmistress' daughter.

Bex Baxter's plain best friend.

"You don't like it? It's cute."

She wonders if his smirk was permanently glued onto his face and looks back up at the stage. Six out of the twenty four women apparently like the male suitor now.

"That's a matter of opinion, and fortunately, I do not share the same tastes as you. Now please do not dodge my question. Who are you?"

"Your future husband."

She shakes her head, blaming herself for not expecting such a childish reply. Of course he wouldn't want to give up his name so easily. But of course.

"Please do not speak to me for the remainder of the show."

"As you wish."

She wishes she can wipe the smirk off his face.


She falls asleep.

She refuses to believe it. She refuses to believe that she fell asleep on the shoulder of a stranger. She subtly looks up, hoping that perhaps he wasn't paying attention to her and he didn't notice that she was lying on his shoulder.

"Did you sleep well?"

She buries her head into her hands, waiting for a few seconds before pinching her nose to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She peeks through the slits of her fingers to see him looking at her with an expression torn between amusement and concern.

It's not a dream.

"I—I slept well, thank you for asking," she stutters in embarrassment. She doesn't want to apologize, but her manners were more important than her pride in some cases. "I'm really sorry for falling asleep in such a careless manner on your shoulder! You should have woken me up. You should have pushed me aside onto the ground and yelled at me. You shouldn't have—"

"Relax, Gallagher Girl. It's not like you drooled onto my sweater," he laughs at her horrified expression and pulls the fabric that covered his shoulder. "Look, it's clean. Besides, I'm not lying when I say you looked cute."

She blushes.

"The show's over. He chose the woman in the maid outfit, in case you were curious," he adds as an afterthought.

"So he's someone with a maid fetish," she laughs and takes in the fact that she wasn't chosen for the show. She's still embarrassed for falling asleep in front of a stranger. She has trouble falling asleep, but somehow, moments before, she was peacefully asleep.

She decides to try asking him again. "Who are you?"

He pushes himself off the chair and extends his hand to Cammie with a slightly less obnoxious smirk.

"It's Zach Goode. It's an honor to meet you, Gallagher Girl."