So I want to try this story out because I have seriously had this idea in my head since before I started Zach's POV. Pretty much, Cammie has been in love (and dating) Josh for years but now he's leaving for a trip for three months. A new neighbor, Zach, moves in who gets on Cammie's nerves. Awesome times will surely ensue. That's really about as much as this is planned out. I haven't decided what end game is yet.

Also, no spies in this story. Sorry!

Forgive any errors on my part. I don't have a beta and I also post things as soon as I finish writing them without a second read-through. I know, I know. Bad habits have got to stop!

DISCLAIMER: Cammie and Zach and all those other awesome people belong to Ally Carter.

Chapter ONE

As teenagers, we are told that we don't understand what love really is. That we aren't capable of loving someone truly and deeply with the same emotional connection and depth as an adult. But I disagree with that. Though many high school relationships fizz out as quickly as they flare up I have always felt that that required teenagers to love all the more deeply and passionately while they could. Before the flamed died out, they had to trek across the whole range of emotions that adults take decades to trudge through.

Have adults forgotten what it was like for them as teens? Does age cause us to forget what passion really is?

I fear many things in life: spiders, insects, car crashes, and terrorists, and death, and all of those horrors that life throws at you. But above that, above even death, I fear missing out on my one great love and never knowing true passion and contentment.

I thought I had that with Josh.

But this summer changed everything and as senior year starts, I find myself wondering who I really am and what it is that I really want.

I'm scared of what the answers might be.

~.~.~.~

"I don't want you to go."

I was lying down on Josh's bed. He had his ceiling fan on and I found myself hypnotized by the wings whooshing in their constant circular pattern.

"I know. I hate that I'll be gone all summer, but I'll be back for the first day of school." He leaned down onto the bed next to me and looked down at my face. "I'll call, every day if possible. Maybe more."

"Will you write to me, too?"

"I'll email."

I sighed. Josh's romantic gestures only went so far. He had no respect for the old ways of wooing a girl and getting back into her good graces.

But he was still my Josh.

"Fine. Call and email." I sat up and he moved out of my way. I pointed my finger at him. "And you better bring me back an awesome present."

He smiled at me and I wanted to melt. When he wrapped his arms around and brought me into a close embrace, I nearly did.

"I'm going to miss you so much," I whispered.

Josh and I had been together since the summer before ninth grade. He was my first crush and my first kiss and my first love and I wanted him to be the first and last of everything left in my life. But now he was leaving for the entire summer before our senior year and I couldn't help feeling that things wouldn't be the same when he got back.

Would he still look at me the same way, like something inside of him had just lit up inside of him or fireworks were raining down in the sky? Would I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world when he held me like this and kissed me like he did on our first date nearly four years ago?

And that was another thing. He wasn't going to be here for our fourth anniversary.

Tears sprung to my eyes. I wasn't usually so emotional or clingy but my boyfriend was leaving me for three months. Sure, he was going to do volunteer work throughout the Caribbean and that was great and noble and lovely, but I still reserved the right to be a little mad at him.

"The summer will fly by and before you know it, I'll be back." He pulled away far enough to smile sweetly at me. "You'll barely have time to miss me."

I didn't tell him that part of me missed him already. He was still in town but his mind was already on what he would be doing all summer and the places he'd go and the people he'd meet. More and more our conversations turned into whether he had bought the right sleeping bag or mosquito net or if he should pack a couple extra toothbrushes and flashlights in case people forgot theirs.

I was getting left behind and he hadn't even boarded his plane yet.

Still, I didn't want to let on just how much pain I was in. I didn't want to seem like a was some co-dependent freak. So I put on a brave smile and said, "You're right. I'll be working at the diner this summer and I'm sure Bex already has a whole slew of adventures planned out. I'll be fine."

"You'll be great." He said and kissed me on the forehead before standing up to continue packing. "You always are."

I left his house shortly after that. His mom invited me to stay for dinner but I just wanted to go home and wallow in my own self-pity for a while. I walked the few blocks to my own house and saw that the new neighbors had almost finished unloading all of their things from the giant moving truck that was parked at the curb in front their house.

A woman came out of the front door of the house and I hurried up the path to my own door before she noticed me. I was in no mood to socialize today.

But of course my mother had other plans. Although she was absolutely dreadful in the kitchen, she did have access to a credit card and had gotten some fresh chocolate chip cookies from Hal's Bakery. She had arranged them on one of nice, glass platters that Grandma had given her one Christmas and wanted me to take it over to welcome the newcomers to the neighborhood.

"Mom, why don't you give them the cookies?"

She tilted her head. "I would but I just remembered I have this...thing."

And that was the kicker. My mom wanted to welcome the neighbors - just not in person. She wasn't always the biggest people-person either.

"Besides, I have so much work to finish up."

"What does a principal of a school do during the summer?" I asked.

"Oh, we find things to busy ourselves with."

I cracked a little smile and didn't feel so sad anymore so I dropped my bag off my shoulder and took the cookie platter. The quicker I played my part as welcoming committee, the sooner I could get to my bedroom where I fully intended to cry into my pillow.

The woman from a few moments before wasn't outside anymore so I headed up to the front door, tromping through the green grass of their front yard. I could imagine my mom, watching through the living room window and shaking her head at me for leaving temporary footprints through our neighbor's grass. Heaven forbid.

I was about to knock on the door when it sprang open and someone plowed into me, tangling their feet in mine. The glass platter (and cookies) went flying through the air and landed on the cement walkway with a shattering sound. I, too, went flying and landed in the grass with a heavy weight on top of me.

The wind was knocked out of me, and I didn't even have enough breath to say "Ow!" let alone yell at the person on top of me to get off me. But as soon as the thought crossed my mind, the weight was gone.

"What the hell!"

I pushed myself into a sitting position, still trying to get my breathing back to normal. It took me a second to realize the yell was directed at me. And another second to realize that the person waiting for an answer was a boy my age.

"Excuse me?" I whispered because I could not for the life of me get it any higher quite yet.

"What kind of person lurks in front of doors?" He shouted. He had dark eyes and they were glaring right into mine.

I was shocked. Lurking? The outrage of it all gave me enough momentum to speak loud enough. "I wasn't lurking! I was bringing cookies!"

"Oh yeah?" He didn't look like he believed me.

I gestured at the broken platter and the ruined cookies splattered around it. "Yeah, asshole. I'm the freaking welcoming committee."

"Do you welcome all new neighbors by calling them assholes?"

His anger seemed to have dissipated greatly because he was smiling now, but I was still worked up from him calling me a lurker. "Only the ones that are assholes."

"Well, for future reference, I prefer to be called Zach."

He held a hand out for me to take to stand up. I stared at it for a moment and he started to look a little unsure. Finally, I took it and brushed myself off when I was standing upright.

"I'm Cammie." I said brushing a stray leaf out of my hair. "Welcome to Roseville, Zach."

What do you think? Is this worth continuing?

Leave a comment! :)