Chapter 3

Just then, a familiar figure walked by. Way too familiar. I had to look at Anna Fetterman (who was "Anastasia Langston". Why did we have such strange names? Note to self: Ask Macey) to make sure she was still with us, and not walking past. The woman walking by was a receptionist, and could be Anna's twin. Identical twin. I looked at Bex, and by her grin, I knew a devious plan was forming in her head…

"Anna," she whispered (was Anna an okay nickname for Anastasia?), putting her hand on Anna's purse lightly. I knew she was handing her a Napotine patch, "Please? You know what to do."

Anna nodded lightly, her body tense. I knew the woman was her long lost sister, and it hurt her to do this to her. I smiled sympathetically. I handed her an almost invisible camera and bug. She nodded again, and followed her sister into a closet. I sighed, leaned back, and closed my eyes. My internal clock told me it was long past lunchtime, and my stomach growled slightly in response. I heard Bex giggle beside me, and I nudged her.

"So what are we going to do? We don't even know where Mr. Alexei Zaronsky is going to try his bomb out," Mick asked quietly. Tentatively, I leaned my head on Zach's shoulder. For cover's sake. I immediately regretted it. Zach's hand, which was still ON MY THIGH, started tracing random patterns. I ignored the tingly feelings, and tensed.

"Luke, what are you doing, darling?" I whispered. He didn't answer. I opened my eyes, and he was smirking. Again.

"I believe I know where he's going to hit," Grant answered. I realized his words had a double meaning, since Macey started laughing quietly. Grant winked at me, and, even with my spy training, my mouth dropped. "Somewhere where everyone, everyone who's a somebody will go."

I caught on quickly. The rest of my sisters looked confused, though. Grant smiled victoriously, as if he should get a medal for outsmarting the Gallagher Girls. I rolled my eyes, and spotted something useful, other than Anna, who had tapped Alexei Zaronsky on the shoulder (successfully planting the bug and camera under almost hidden near his collar), and was asking him if he wanted any coffee. I saw a big, glossy poster.

"Look," I tilted my head in that direction. I saw Tina, who was sitting across from me, take out her compact and "dust her face", which meant she was looking behind her. Her eyes widened, and she nodded slightly, before closing the compact. Mick examined her iPhone (where did she get one of those?), which was reflective, and nodded slightly too.

The fancy, over-done poster gleamed near the elevators.

The Kiss on the Lips Party

Tonight, 8 pm, at the Four Seasons Hotel Grand Ballroom

Be There Or Be Square

The Party of the Year

Invited Guests ONLY

Hosted by Sandra van Hooton

(A.N. So I know that is kind of hard to read. So here:

The Kiss on the Lips Party

Tonight, 8 pm, at the Four Seasons Hotel Grand Ballroom

Be There or Be Square

The Party of the Year

Invited Guests ONLY

Hosted by Serena van Hooton)

"Oh, so that's what those people were talking about," Eva muttered.

"Yeah, on the elevator, there were these guys debating on what they should get their girlfriends for the 'important event' tonight," Courtney added.

"This is like a Gossip Girl episode," Tina murmured dreamily. That's when I realized why everything felt so familiar. The party, the names, the clothes… Tina always watched Gossip Girl when she had free time, and occasionally I'd caught a few episodes. I nodded in agreement. Then Anna's sister walked out of a closet, and exactly five minutes later, Anna herself walked out casually. We congratulated her quietly.

"OMGEE SANDRA!" a high-pitched voice squealed. I stared into the mirror, clamping my legs together (Zach's hand had started to move again. Hello, I was wearing pants. I totally caught Tina ogling and Macey raising her eyebrows a few times already). I saw a short, curly haired brunette in thee inch Prada heels run (as quickly as she could in shoes like those) toward a tall supermodel like blond I assumed was "the" Sandra van Hooton. She had wavy blond hair, sharp blue-green eyes, the perfect bone structure, and was decked out from the scarf around her head to her super tall heels in designer. She slipped of her sunglasses and rolled her eyes at the shorter girl.

"Thanks a lot, Alyssa," she snapped. I could tell she wasn't your ray of sunshine.

"Oops, sorry Sandra. It's just, what with the party tonight…" the girl blabbered on and on about hair and makeup appointments and last minute decorations. Sandra appeared not to be listening. But my spy senses were tingling (darn, every time I thought that, I would get that annoying picture of Peter Parker stuck in my head), and I knew she was paying attention. Rapt attention. Something was off. Normal people couldn't do that. Right? I felt like I'd seen her before somewhere… Something was wrong. Then she spotted us. At first, shock flickered across her face, then suspicion. She quickly changed her expression, and smiled. At Zach. I felt a pang of jealousy that surprised me, even though I am the one sitting next to Zach. Sandra model-walked over, her hips swinging. As soon as she was within a five-foot radius, I could smell her perfume.

"Hello, my name is Sandra van Hooton. Are you new around here?" Although she was facing us, I knew she was only talking to Zach—I mean Luke. Her eyes passed over me, as if I were a piece of unimportant furniture, part of the background. I was used to that, but I bet Cassandra wasn't, since anger flared up inside me. Instead of letting Zach answer, I beat him to it.

"Oh, yes, we are," I said coolly, tilting my head and raising my eyebrows slightly. Sandra looked directly at me for the first time, and narrowed her eyes. Her eyes lingered on Zach's hand (that was still on my thigh) for a moment too long.

"I see," she replied just as coolly. "Well, duty calls, I'll see you around." She smiled at Zach, and only Zach. A cold glare was sent in my direction, but I just smiled.

"Okay," Mick said, as soon as Sandra was out of hearing distance. She cracked her knuckles. "Time for plan CSHPASW."

Plan CSHPASW was Plan Crash Sandra van Hooton's Party And Save The World. The Tails, Tina, Mick, and Eva, had been sent to follow Alexei Zaronsky, while The Processers, Kim and Anna, were analyzing everything we'd taped and heard. Macey was busy getting Team Crashers (Zach, Bex, and me) ready for the party. And Grant was his own team, The Crawler. He was supposed to crawl through the air vents in the hotel, and since we'd already figured out the guards will stand right under the air vents, he'll just jump down and knock them out, letting us in to the party. Simple. The Tails were supposed to follow The Subject through the Staff entrance and be part of the "see all hear all" team of waitresses at the party. The rest of the plan was simple, get The Subject out of the party and disable the bomb, then disappear and bring him and the new gas back to school. But the prep work for us was torture.

"Sit still!" Macey commanded. I tried to stop squirming in my seat in front of the giant mirror in our bathroom. The liquid eyeliner she was putting on me stung my eyes. After that, she put a coat of sparkly eyeliner on that made me look a lot less like Cammie the Chameleon, the girl no one sees, and a lot more like Cassandra Banks, the snobby, popular girl. I'd rather be anyone—Tina, Mick, and Eva were getting the local gossip, Kim and Anna were still analyzing, and Zach and Grant were watching TV in the other room (again. Why were they so lucky? Just a suit, that was easy on easy off). Even Bex was just sitting on the edge of the bathtub, smiling and eating a bar of chocolate. Unfair.

After a lot of painting and dusting my face, I had to change into my "party outfit" that Macey had kept hidden until that moment.

"Drum roll, please," Macey called from outside the bathroom. Bex put down her chocolate bar (where'd she get that? I was famished), and started patting her legs.

"Ta-da!" Macey said in a singsong voice.

"Uh, okay," I said. Macey held up a shapeless gold top with two thin straps. "Where are the pants?"

"I THOUGHT SHE WAS A GENIUS!" I heard Grant yell.

"Isn't it obvious, Gallagher Girl?" Zach appeared in the doorway, smirking. What was I missing? Macey rolled her eyes, and Bex laughed.

"Cammie…" Macey said slowly, as if she was explaining something to an infant, "This is a dress."

"What? No way. Nuh-uh. I will not wear that thing, unless there are pants to go with that top. No way. Never in my life. Nope." I shook my head vigorously. I would not wear that.

"Cammie! You're going to mess up your hair!" Macey chided. I really didn't care about the fact my hair was pinned to my head in about a thousand bobby pins. That was the least of my worries.

"It's just a dress," Zach smirked. "Is Gallagher Girl afraid of it?"

"No," I rolled my eyes. I stood up, and held the dress against myself. "Hello, this thing barely reaches my thighs! Are you crazy, Macey? I so cannot wear this!"

Bex studied me. "Well, technically, it goes to about an eighth of your thigh."

"Exactly!" I wanted to scream. And I thought these madmen were my friends.

Grant whistled. "Looking good, Cammie." He poked his head in. "Hey Bexy, are you going to wear something like that? That'd be nice."

I rolled my eyes when Bex fluttered her eyelashes. Blah. Bigger problems here.

"Wear it." Macey demanded, her eyes narrowing in a wear-the-thing-or-else way that was creeping me out. With her hair in a ponytail and that big diamond in her nose and her supermodel body, Macey might not seem like the most threatening person. But I knew she had Bex, and that Macey would get anything and everything she wanted.

"Maybe you can't wear it, Cam. You probably can't." Macey reasoned. "But like with the red top, you're now wearing it. Cassandra Banks is. And Cassandra Banks has a mission tonight."

A.N. So this is kind of more of a filler chapter. The next chapter will probably be up tomorrow. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Constructive criticism is welcome. If you are an author, you'll understand how great it is to get reviews. Lots of love.