Hey, thank you so much for everyone that reviewed. I seriously appreciate it so much and read each and every review. I love that they are all so good. Sorry I haven't been able to update that quickly, but I feel like that is how it's going to be during the weekdays. Anyway, seriously thank you so much for the reviews, and keep reviewing too! I will also take any ideas or input into consideration!
"Hey Gallagher girl"
His whisper in my ear gave me chills. His protective arm around my waist made me feel safe. I turned around to see his dark eyes stare into mine intensely, as if I was the only girl in the world, which is incredibly cliché, but that's how I always feel with Zach (well when he isn't trying to be all tough spy guy) He started leaning towards me, gently pressing his lips against mine, sending even more chills down my back. I involuntarily leaned into him, staying like this, kissing him, until I heard Bex through my comms unit.
"Hey chameleon, I know your being all Chameleon-y, but Zach isn't with the guys, so if you two are together it would be great if you guys hurried your butts over here so we can leave. I want to go to Miami. Now. "Bex said impatiently.
As we reluctantly stopped kissing in the middle of the airport and started walking hand in hand towards our gate for the private plane, I thought about how lucky I was to have friends like Macey, Bex, and Liz and a boyfriend like Zach. When we reached our gate and saw everybody standing there waiting for us, I realized that even though we hadn't seen Grant, Jonas, and Nick in a year and a half, nothing had really changed. Bex and Grant were already flirting with each other, Jonas and Liz were already awkwardly smiling at each other over their respective books, and Nick and Macey were already making out, while Abby and Mr. Solomon were talking in hushed tones in the corner, oblivious to everything else. I wondered what they were talking about until Liz interrupted.
"Hey Zach, I guess you saw Cammie. How you can do that I have no idea because even we can't do that sometimes. Cammie, you're the only one that lost though. Bex, Macey, and I managed to follow the rest of the boys here. You should have seen the looks on Abby and Solomon's faces, they looked so proud! The boys, on the other hand, not so much."
"Well I, for one, don't mind be followed by this British hottie any day" Grant said, putting is arm around Bex.
"Oh whatever" Bex said, rolling her eyes and pretending not to care, although she was simultaneously snuggling into Grant's arm a little more.
"Yeah I agree with Grant. It's great to see you girls again, especially you Lizzie." Jonas said, his cheeks turning red as he said it. He quickly put his head down, but not before looking up to see Liz's reaction. She was also turning red and putting her head down, of course. Oh, nerd love.
Meanwhile, Joe and Abby starting walking over and noticed Nick and Macey making out. Abby just looked amused, while Joe just looked uncomfortable.
"Nick, Macey-disengage, It's time to board the plane." he said as they started pulling apart. "NOW!" he said, more forcefully as they pulled apart and Macey fixed her hair and Nick straightened his shirt. They both looked a little amused, but not embarrassed like most people would have been if their former Cove Ops teacher had to tell them to stop making out.
"Oh by the way squirt, you were in the lead for the extra credit points up until Zach caught you. Zach you get one for that, by the way, and good job. Now I probably won't be able to give you any more little extra credit "assignments" since Rachel is all set on this being a "normal vacation." So let's not mention this to her! Got it?"
"Mention what to me, Abby," my mom said as she was hurrying to catch up with us as we were boarding the plane. She looked worried and out of breath, which is very rare for my mom. "Actually, you know what, I don't even want to know. Let's start this vacation off on the right foot." She said, with a tone of finality that ended the conversation.
….
Later that day, after we had arrived in Miami and gone through the airport, we were on our way to the house that a very rich and generous Gallagher Alumni had let us borrow for the break. I figured it would be pretty nice and near the beach, but it was way more than I expected when we pulled up. I mean, this house could put some of Macey's houses to shame. First, it was right on the beach, with a front porch with a walkway that leads right up almost to the water. The house itself was all white stone with huge bay windows, with palm trees surrounding the perimeter. It looked to be at least three stories high. A huge deck wrapped around the back to the side of the house, where the huge bean shaped in-ground pool with a fountain at one end and a waterslide and diving board at the other end was. It had at least ten beach chairs and five tables around it, and looked amazing. I looked from my friends shocked faces (well except for Macey, she looked unimpressed) to my mom's proud expression, and became suddenly very excited.
Macey, Bex, Liz, and I all squealed and ran into the house, admiring the huge kitchen, nice living room, and dining on the first floor. I also immediately noticed the insane security measures like cameras, keypads, alarms, and many other things. Then we ran upstairs to the second floor and saw 5 bedrooms, all with adjoining bathrooms, and a den complete with a pool table, foosball table, movie projector, two huge leather couches, and floor to ceiling bookcases lined with movies and board games. We decided to choose this floor, and all went to pick our rooms. Macey and I chose the first room, right across the hall from the one Liz and Bex chose. Zach and Grant chose the room next to us, and Nick and Jonas took the one next to Bex and Liz. The last room on this floor remained empty. My mom, Joe, and Abby walked upstairs to the next floor, and each chose one of the seven rooms on that floor. I was secretly very happy that they decided to be on a different floor than us, just in case I wanted to sneak over to Zach's room!
We all through our stuff down onto the beds, then ran back downstairs and outside to the beach. The sand was very light and hot under our feet, and the water was cool as we reached the shore. The sun was shining, and it was unusually hot for Miami this time of year, as it was supposed to be in the mid to high 80's the entire time we were there. I looked down the beach, and saw dozens of private beach houses just like the one we were staying in. Farther down the beach I could barely make out the boardwalk, with the roller coasters, restaurants, and nightclubs. I couldn't help but think that being cooped up in the Gallagher mansion for the past 6 years totally hadn't prepared me for this.
I felt Zach come up behind me, and was totally not expecting it as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.
"Come on Gallagher Girl, time for a swim" He said as he started running farther into the water. Despite my yelling and screaming, he threw me into the water and jumped in on top of me. I felt the cool water seep into all of my clothes, yet I couldn't get up with Zach pinning me down. When he finally let me up, I started chasing him until I could jump on top of him and dunk him down into the water.
When I let him up, we just stood there, letting our feet seep into the sand, and starting kissing, more passionately than we had at the airport. He put his arms around my waist and drew me in closer, while I put my arms up around his shoulders and started running my hands through his hair.
We stood like this until I felt cold water splash against my back again. I pulled away from Zach and turned around to see Bex and Liz running away. Zach and I looked at each other, nodded, and starting running towards them until we caught up with them and dunked them under water.
We played around like this until we were all completely soaking wet in our clothes, and exhausted from chasing each other around in the water. Joe, Abby, and my mom eventually came out with towels and told us that it was time to come inside, because we were getting ready to go out for dinner. As I walked inside, I looked at my friends happy faces and thought that maybe this would just be a relaxing and normal vacation, and maybe it would be exactly what we needed right now.
