Chapter 2
"Cammie! Cammie, help me!"
I jolted awake and looked around my room. My mom's pull out mattress was sitting against the wall and her blankets and pillows were gone. She must have woken up before me and gone downstairs. Wait, but then who screamed my name? I looked around to the empty room. Since there was no one, I realized it must have been a dream. Oddly enough, the voice sounded so realistic. As if someone really needed my help. I shrugged it off and went to the bathroom and showered. After brushing my teeth, I decided to skip breakfast because once everyone arrived, there would be a huge welcome dinner. I cleaned up the room considering in a few hours, other people would be living there. That took longer than expected and as I finished putting away my clothes, I heard people walking outside my door. I opened it up to find Tina and Ava walking to their room with their bags.
"Cammie, how was your summer?" asked Tina.
"It was nice Tina, thank you." I responded. I didn't dare to mention that I had spent majority of it with my grandparents and the rest alone in the mansion. It wouldn't compare to the exotic trip to the Bermuda Triangle that Tina and her parents would have gone to, or the Russian Embassy that Ava had been so excited to see. I casually walked away towards the window and spotted the dozens of limousines bringing my sisters adventures. I was just about to walk outside the room when I heard a familiar voice in the lobby.
"Oopsie Diasy!" cried a shrill voice, while the slamming of suitcases echoed through the halls. Liz was back! I stepped back from the door just in time, as she slammed it open.
"Cammie!" she screamed as she ran over to give me a hug. "How was your summer?"
"It was good Liz, nothing special. How was yours?
"Awesome! I finalized my deal with the CIA for them to use my lie detector software for interrogation purposes.
"Oh, that's amazing!" I hugged her again and helped her carry her suitcase to her bed. As we unpacked her stuff, we heard Bex and Macey outside the door.
"I think it was faux"
"No, it was definitely real"
"Maybe. But either way, she looked ridiculous"
"Hi guys!" Liz screamed as they came into the room. "How was summer?"
"It was good," they both said. We all gave each other the biggest hugs. I know Bex had spent the summer without her parents in Guatemala and Macey had been on her parent's election tour because her dad was running for senator. They probably didn't want to talk about it. But at least we were all happy to be back. I decided that this was the time to talk about what I had overheard my mom talking about.
"Hey guy. So I have some news." They all turned and stared.
"What is it Cammie?" asked Bex.
"I overheard my mom talking about possible planning another semester with Blackthorne. I think the guys are coming back this year!"
"Oh my god! That means Jonas is coming back!" Liz cried. I rolled my eyes at her sweetness, and then realized we were all thinking it. I bet Bex couldn't wait to see Grant and I know I couldn't wait to see Zach. But I felt bad for Macey, as she didn't have a "Blackthorne Boy." The only guy Macey liked was Preston and, since last summer, that hadn't gone too well. Preston had gotten tired of Macey evading his questions about her and her school, so she decided to call it quits. I suspected Macey knew I was thinking about her because she smiled and suddenly spoke.
"Cam, don't worry. I'm not much into the dating scene right now. I need to work on my grades this semester anyways." I smiled at her compassion and gave her a small hug.
"Let's go down to dinner guys!" I followed Liz's lead as she strolled out of the room. The halls seemed more like a school now, girls walking everywhere. You could almost separate the seventh graders from the rest. Their little heads peeking up at the others while walking, their nervousness showing. We walked to the great hall and took our seats and waited for my mom to take grab the podium and our attention.
"Welcome back, everyone. I hope you had a wonderful summer break. I'd like to start with the news that we will be offering a new course this semester, Code Analysis, and will be taught by our newest faculty, Professor Williams. Mom pointed towards a man who was sipping tea in the back table. He quietly rose, and waved, then returned to his tea. There was something about him, something else that was forcing him to be a teacher here, because it surely wasn't his love of children and the education system.
"Also, I would like to give you girls another surprise." I could have sworn mom looked directly at me when she said that.
"What do you think it is," cried Tina. It was obvious that her question was also directed to me. She always assumed I know secrets because my mom is the headmistress. Fortunately, this time it was true. I was sure my mom was about to tell us about Blackthorne. I looked at Bex and she smiled back excitedly.
"This semester, Gallagher will be home to not only you girls, but to some of the boys from Blackthorne as well." Mom spoke and suddenly, I heard the entire crowd of girls gasp. Just then, the back door opened and Dr. Steve walked in, followed by 5 boys. I recognized Grant, and Jonas, but Zach was nowhere to be seen. The other 3 boys looked like triplets, with blond hair and large muscles. My stomach fell as I realized Zach wasn't one of the boys doing the program. I assume my sadness was obvious because Liz grabbed my hand and squeezed. I turned up to look at her apologetic smile. In an effort to contain my emotions, I smiled back, even though that is not how I felt. I felt a weird sensation in my stomach, one that I had never experienced before. I just wanted to go back to bed.
