Author's Note: I'm not too terribly sure what I was exactly trying to achieve here. There's a little Joe/Cammie if you squint, but it could be nothing more than just friendship. There's a lot of angst. And a little dialogue. And some actually Cammie, because out of all the characters, I find her the hardest to write. Tell me what you think, if you want, but thank you all for reading. (:

But this is my fourth, and I believe worst, part in my series of excepts that weren't shown in the GG series.

Happy Easter everyone! (:


Perdu et Inconnu

"I don't know who I am anymore."

The truth of the words startles her, but maybe what was even more startling was who she admits it to. Joe Solomon stands in front of her, his back turned to face her. He stares out the window, looking out over the magnificent grounds of the Gallagher Academy. But he did not seem as amazed at the grounds as she had been for all the years that she had attended there. Maybe it was because he had seen better, and now she realizes, so had she. He does not turn to face her as she imagined he would, but instead, he remains where he was. Still she notices that is posture is a little too perfect and that his muscles are a little too tense.

"Who were you before?" His quiet words cause her to blink as she had begun to not expect a response. In silence, they stood as she contemplates his words.

She breathes, unsurely. "I was a girl with questions." She pauses, searching for the right answer. "I was the Chameleon. I was the girl who lived without knowing whether her father was alive or dead. I was a girl with a place to go, a place where I belonged."

His stance becomes even more rigid in guilt despite the absence of blame. There is a pause before he responds, "And now?"

"I am the girl with answers, the girl everyone sees. I am the girl whose father is dead." She sags against the wall, exhausted and not tired. "I am a girl who doesn't have a home."

At this, he turns around, but he doesn't approach her, does not offer her comfort. She doesn't see him as the man who risked everything for her right now, but as her teacher who taught her everything she knows. She wonders about the many faces of Joe Solomon and wonders if she's ever seen the real one. "What do you see?" He asks, and it's just another test.

"Everything," is her response.

She doesn't meet his eyes, but she knows she's passed.

When she looks up, there's a sadness on his face and a frown turning at his lips, and even though she passed, she thinks that she might have failed, too.

"It's a little late for a morning jog, Ms. Morgan," his cover is firmly back in its place now. She swallows and stands up, straightening.

She looks up to him, unsmiling. "It's a little too late for a midnight walk, too, Mr. Solomon." She pretends. It's easy to pretend. She can pretend that she is a rich heiress in this lovely mansion with these wonderful friends and a family, a real family with a mom and dad waiting for her outside the castle walls. She can pretend that Mr. Solomon is just her teacher, and she is just his student.

But then, she blinks, and for the faintest of seconds, she sees his cover falter silently. And then the game of pretend is over.

And once again, she's herself.

And once again, she's not.

She turns to walk away from the hurt, but he calls out, "Ms. Morgan, have a good winter break." She turns and sees her teacher with a frown. But then she blinks and it's just him, her friend, smiling at her. "And Cammie, be safe." She smiles at him finally.

She laughs then, even though she feels like crying, and it feels good. It feels right. "Just keep yourself safe too."