I woke up with my head on Zach's shoulder, his head on top of mine, and his arm around me. My internal clock told me it was about 7AM. Suddenly remembering where I was, I snapped my head away from Zach and sat up abruptly. His head snapped down, jerking him awake.

"Geez Gallagher Girl, calm down." He muttered, rubbing his head with his hand.

"Sorry." I answered distractedly. I was going through my things, looking for a schedule I had snatched on my way in. Found it! It was a copy of Bex's schedule, and I saw that she had Cove-Ops first. Cove-Ops….It had been so long since I had been in a proper Cove-Ops class, with an actual teacher. I sighed, and sat back down. Zach glanced at the schedule, raised his eyebrows and asked: "How did you get that?"

I rolled my eyes at him, not answering his question. I looked back down at the schedule. "Is Mr. Solomon…?" I asked, not daring to finish my question.

"He's awake," Zach answered, "And he's teaching Cove-Ops again. When he found out you were gone, he calmed everyone down, saying you'd come back when you were ready. I guess he was right."

"How am I going to do this…Where should I go…?" I mumbled to myself, trying to plan how I would rejoin my sisterhood.

Zach answered me, even though I wasn't talking to him. "You should go see your mother first. She is headmistress after all."

"I guess…but what if…?" I stopped talking, thinking about a different possibility.

Zach read my mind. "Gallagher Girl, it's too late now. You can't just go back to class with Bex, Liz and Macey. It doesn't work like that. How are you even going to keep up with them? You can barely stand, let alone fight like you used to."

"I told you Zach, I'm fine! And if I can't stand, then how do think I made it here, hmm? I'm not that weak, you know. I can take care of myself." I yelled at him, my voice rising to a shriller tone than usual.

"There's a difference between being healthy and fighting through your pain, pretending it doesn't exist, Gallagher Girl. I can see your face when you stand for too long, or if I touch your arm in the wrong spot. You're not fine, Gallagher Girl." Zach's eyebrows were furrowing, his mouth pulling down into a frown.

I stood up, trying to prove my point and show him I actually was fine, but I did it too quickly and put too much weight on the wrong side of my ankle, so I ended up falling forward into Zach's outstretched arms. Zach smirked at me, everything in his expression screaming 'I told you so'.

"Oh, shut up." I muttered, pulling away from him. This time, I put less weight on my ankle, did it slowly, and managed to stand up on my own. My ankle still hurt even more than it had last night, the reason for which I could only assume was Zach's insistence on resetting it to the right spot. I knew that I was being stupid, and that if he hadn't I would have a crooked ankle for the rest of my life, but I was still mad at him.

I walked over to my stuff and gathered it all together in my bag, but then I came to a stop. How was I going to do this? I couldn't simply march back into my normal Gallagher routine, expecting everyone to be happy to see me. And Zach…he would have to go to his classes, or else there would be suspicion. I was on my own for this. I was used to being on my own, but I wasn't looking forward to facing the wrath of Bex, Liz, Macey, or my mom.

Zach came up behind me, putting his arms around my waist, comforting me. I sighed, enjoying it for a few seconds, but then I had to pull away.

"You have to go, Zach. You have classes to go to."

He sighed, turned me around so I was looking at him, and simply nodded. "You're right, Gallagher Girl. And I think you'll be okay on your own. Good luck."

He quickly kissed my forehead, and, just like that, he was gone.

I decided that I would observe my friends' day before going in, because I wanted to see their routines and find the best opening to jump back into their lives. I had to continue through passageways I was unfamiliar with, some that probably hadn't even been used since Gilly herself, because a lot of the others had been closed off. First I went to the one that looked over my mother's office, but she wasn't in it. I assumed that everyone had gone to breakfast already.

I waited until I knew that everyone would be in class, and then I took a passageway that lead to my old room. Stepping into it was strange, because everything was the same as it always had been. Well, almost everything. My things weren't in the usual mess, and my bed was actually made. I went to my closet and quickly changed into some clean clothes (but not my uniform) and sat on my bed, deciding what to do.

I decided that I would go see Mr. Solomon first, since he would probably be the calmest of everyone. So I waited in the passageway until I knew the teaching day was over, and then I starting creeping down into the Sublevels, where I knew he would be before dinner. Conveniently, he was in sublevel two, the first place I tried. I was hiding in a passageway that went behind the wall that his desk was in front of. I waited for him to realize I was there, watching him. Joe Solomon is the best spy I've ever known, so I didn't have to wait long for him to say, calmly, without turning around: "Miss Morgan."

I came out of the passageway, standing right in front of him. I honestly had no idea what to say. He raised his head slowly, to get a good look at me, and, for a second, I thought I saw a flash of relief in his eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by his usual calculating expression.

"Sit, Miss Morgan. You won't be able to stand on that ankle much longer." He instructed me.

Unlike with Zach, I listened to him, and obeyed without protest, because my ankle did actually hurt a lot. I noticed he was going through some papers on his desk. Looking closer, I realized that those papers were my Cove-Ops report from last summer. He caught me looking.

"Yes, quite an interesting report, Miss Morgan. I wonder if you have anything to add to it."

I looked at him, trying to keep the terror from seeping into my eyes, and shook my head. He noticed my fear, because his eyes softened and he came over to where I was sitting, and stood right behind me.

Just as Zach had done, he ran his fingers through my hair, looking for the bump, as if he knew it was there before I told him. His fingers brushed against it, and my whole body stiffened, but I refused to show any other weakness in front of him. He took his hands away from me and came around so he was facing me. His face was so shocked that I had to blink to make sure I wasn't imagining it.

"You found them." He stated simply, not trying to hide his shocked expression from me.

I looked at him, this time not masking my terror, and whispered three words that seemed more deadly than any weapon. "I don't know."

"Cammie, you did find them. And they made sure you wouldn't remember anything about it. You escaped."

"Mr. Solomon…" I began, but he cut me off.

"Mr. S." He corrected.

"Joe," I answered, refusing to admit that, technically, Joe Solomon didn't exist anymore, "I don't…I can't…I just…" I wasn't able to finish, because I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying.

"Cammie, you are one of the best pavement artists I had ever seen, for your age. I don't doubt that you found the Circle. But, I also don't doubt that they would let you go without making sure you remembered none of their important secret information." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Together we'll figure this out. But now, I'm afraid, it's time for you to get the punishment you deserve for running away."

"Are you taking me to my mother?" I asked.

"Yes, but that's not what I meant about punishment. It's your roommates you should be more afraid of."

I stood, careful about my ankle, but Mr. Solomon noticed, and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Miss Morgan?" He asked inquisitively, noticing I still had one hand on my chair and wasn't walking with him.

"I'm fine." I answered, holding my breath while I walked over to him. It was fine, I convinced myself. I could do this.

Mr. Solomon looked incredulous, staring at my face, as if he was expecting me to scream in pain, but I was strong, and I was a spy who was trained not to show weakness.

It was dinnertime, and everyone else was eating in the hall, so we got our peace walking to my mother's office. She was at dinner too, but Mr. Solomon assured me she was on her way.

I released the breath I was holding and sank into one of my mother's chairs, ignoring Mr. Solomon's stare at my ankle. Being back in my mom's office was a little scary, because I didn't know how she would react to finding me back. I walked over to her desk, looking under the drawers to see if she had hidden anything else there. Mr. Solomon raised his eyebrows at me, but I ignored him. Because under the second drawer to the right, I found the old picture of my dad and Mr. Solomon, but I also found one of me. I pulled them both out, and I noticed how wrinkled mine was. It looked like it had been stained with what I could only assume were my mother's tears. I sat on the floor, staring at the two pictures, imagining my mother's pain. My face was as expressionless as stone, I made sure of that, but inside my feelings were all over the place. I sat like that for a few minutes, lost in thought, when I was startled by Mr. Solomon's voice.

"Miss Morgan." He said sympathetically, but loudly enough to startle me out of my trance. I put the pictures back where I found them and went back to my chair. Five seconds later, I heard my mother's footsteps outside the door. Holding my breath, bracing myself, I watched as the doorknob turned slowly. The door opened, and I saw my mother standing there. Her face didn't show any sign of emotion or surprise towards me being there. She just looked at me.

"Cameron." She barely glanced in my direction, instead chose to talk to Mr. Solomon.

"Joe, did you get those papers I asked for?"

"Yes, Rachel. Here they are. Would you like me to leave?" He handed her some papers and then looked at her nervously.

"No, thank you." My mother replied her voice as cold as stone. She turned toward me slowly, her terrifying gaze now focused on me.

"Cameron. Anne. Morgan. Do you have any idea, any idea, what you did?" She didn't yell, she just whispered, a whisper so soft and deadly that if I hadn't been a spy I wouldn't have heard it.

I just stared at her deftly, not saying a word, because I didn't want to make it worse.

She let out a breath and her muscles visibly relaxed. "Come here." She ordered.

I got up and walked towards her, and if she noticed my ankle, she didn't say anything. We stood facing each other, and I realized that I was closer to her height now, so that I was looking at her chin instead of her neck. My mother looked me up and down, her eyes softening when she saw my bruised arms, my broken ankle, and my weak figure. Suddenly, she pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I gasped with surprise, but hugged her back, feeling relieved to be with her again. She let go of me, and whispered into my hair: "Don't you ever do that again."

I nodded, wiping my eyes and stepping back. My mother turned to Mr. Solomon and said: "Joe, call the girls, oh, and Zach, I guess."

He nodded, and 2 minutes and 24 seconds later, Bex came into the room, followed closely by Macey, Liz and Zach. Bex stopped dead when she saw me, and I saw her face contort into an image of absolute furry. She rushed towards me, about to smash some sense into me no doubt, when Zach yelled: "Bex, stop. Look at her."

Bex did stop, thankfully. She looked me up and down, noticing how pathetic I looked, her face giving in slightly, and pulled me into a hug. She surprised me by sobbing her heart out onto my shoulder. I was taken aback.

"Bex, I'm sorry. Bex, please, stop, please."

Mr. Solomon glanced at my mom and said: "We'll just step out for a second." So he and my mom left the office.

"Cam, you are so much trouble." Bex laughed and stopped crying, stepping away so the others could hug me too.

Macey came up, smiling, and hugged me. "I'm so glad you're back, Cam. We missed you." She let a single tear escape from her eye, but other than that she seemed a lot more composed than Bex. Liz came up last, and when she hugged me, she pulled back in surprise.

"Cam, what happened to you? Did you eat anything while you were gone? You're tinier than I am!"

The girls fluttered around again, worrying about me, examining my injuries for a while. We all calmed down, until Macey said: "We'll go up to the room now, so that you and Zach can get some….privacy." She winked at me, shoving Liz and Bex out. I rolled my eyes at her. Zach pulled me into his arms and whispered, "Nice report, by the way. I just loved the ending. 'Zach was right. Zach was right. Zach was right.' Although," he frowned, "It did give them a bigger reason to blame everything on me."

"I'm sorry." I whispered, but I was giggling. We pulled apart and I told him that I needed to talk to my mother a bit more. He nodded, understanding, and left. My mother and Mr. Solomon came back into the office.

"Cam, you really should get those injuries checked out. The infirmary's closed though…" My mother fretted.

"Don't worry mom, my ankle's taped up anyways. And I'm healing. They were worse a couple of weeks ago-" I stopped, fearing I had said too much.

"You've been like this for a couple of weeks? Cam…" My mother scolded me, worrying about what else happened to me.

"Actually, Miss Morgan," Mr. Solomon said to me, "You're injuries don't look too bad. You're ankle is taped up nicely, I'm assuming Mr. Goode did that for you?"

I nodded; embarrassed at how easily Mr. Solomon had guessed I was with Zach.

My mother raised her eyebrows at me, but I just shrugged. I wasn't really keen on explaining my night with Zach to my mother.

Mr. Solomon continued: "I'd like to look at that bump on your head tomorrow with an X-ray, but other than that, I think you should be fine for now."

"We'll discuss this more tomorrow, Cam. Go get some sleep, you look exhausted." My mother beckoned me out the door, wishing me a goodnight.

I walked to my room using only passageways; I didn't want the rest of my sisters to know I was back just yet, although I was sure they would all know by morning. I was almost at my room when I stumbled over a loose stone in the passageway floor and fell. I swore through gritted teeth, trying to figure out how I was going to get up without messing up my ankle too badly. I turned my legs around slowly so they were behind me, and pressed my back against the wall, using it for support. Unfortunately, I hit my head on the wall in the process. I was up on my knees, cursing through the pain of the already sensitive bump on my head, when someone swooped by and picked up off my knees, pulling me to my feet. I gasped in fear, but it turned out to be Zach, again.

He was laughing at me. "Oh Gallagher Girl, what would you do without me?"

My head was killing me; I didn't have the energy to answer him. I had hit it in the same place where the bump was, and now I was extremely dizzy. I sunk out of his arms, sliding down the wall until I was sitting again.

Zach was still chuckling. "Why would sit down again when I just helped you up, Gallagher girl?"

I didn't answer; I just put my head against my knees, closed my eyes and willed the pain to stop. My teeth were gritted and my breathing was shallow. Zach stopped laughing immediately, and sunk down across from me. His hands ran around my body, trying to find where the pain was. They stopped on my head, on top my hands that were clutching my head. He pulled my hands free and gripped them tightly, whispering to me that the pain would go away. There wasn't anything he could do. If he touched my head, it would hurt more. So he sat with me for the few minutes it took for me to be able to lift my head again. I opened my eyes, and was surprised to find them dry. Zach's face was covered with worry, and he was staring at me intently. I let out a breath, which sounded more like a moan, and let go of his hands. His hands went to my head, looking for the bump. I recoiled, not wanting to experience the pain again. He stopped, and told me not to worry. He just wanted to look at it. He parted my hair over the bump and saw that it looked just the same as before. Zach was no doctor, so it wasn't like he knew what that meant.

I tried to stand up, feeling slightly better, but I wavered a little, and I had to lean heavily on Zach. He pulled me into a tight hug, and this time he wasn't careful about my injuries. He was stronger than me, and when he pulled me to him, it was with such strength that I barely had room to draw a breath. He noticed, and loosened his hold on me, his eyes apologetic. I rested my head on his shoulder, glad that he was there for me. When we broke apart, he said: "Gallagher Girl, you have no idea how much you scare me sometimes."

I smiled, pulling away from him. "I have to go now, Zach." He nodded, letting me pass by and go back to my room. As I was walking, I thought about how easy he was being with me, and the side of himself he was showing. I was sure it wouldn't last; the smirk would be back by tomorrow.