IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOTE THAT FOLLOWS!

A/N: Okay, so some people asked in a review if I stole or based this story off "Perfect Chemistry." Well, to be honest I'd never heard of it. So I went to the library, checked it out, and stayed up until 4 o'clock in the morning reading it this weekend. It kind of scared me how close my first two chapters were almost exactly the same as the book's first four or five chapters. I promise you though; the rest of the story is not like "Perfect Chemistry"! Also, I'm having a hard time not putting an A/N on my chapters, so I decided I'm giving up on the "No Author's Note" rule. Now, on with the story!

I woke up dazed. I was in a different room than the one I was in when I had fallen asleep the night before. It was a simple room, dark, grey, no windows, small mattress on the floor (the one I was laying on) and a small, blue blanket wrapped around me. "Zach?" I called. After a second or two with no reply I tried, "Jonas? Grant?" More silence. I finally managed to get out of bed and head over to the door.

I pressed my ear against the wood door and finally heard some people talking. I could tell they were whispering, but I couldn't make out their words.

I opened the door and slowly stepped into the hall, conscious about every move I made.

I strolled into the main part of the house and saw the gang sitting there, talking. "Morning," I greeted, plopping down on the couch.

"Hey, Cammie. We're about to head out. Wanna come?" Grant asked, sounding more like I was his cousin on a trip instead of like a guy who helped kidnap me. Or helped kidnap from a kidnapper. Maybe both. Maybe neither. I don't really know.

"Uh, sure? But where are we going?" I demanded.

The three guys looked at each other before Jonas said, "The Swingline gang's place. They're going to help us get out of this mess."

I nodded and glanced at Zach. His head was down, like he was staring at his hands. I started to ask him what was wrong, but as soon as I opened my mouth, I closed it back.

I wasn't supposed to talk to Zach unless he approached me first, and the talking I would say would be smart remarks.

"Is that a good idea? I mean, bringing me along and everything?"

Grant shrugged, Jonas managed a quiet "Yeah" but Zach…he remained motionless.

No one said anything for a minute; we all just sat in a comfortable silence. Well, at least I was comfortable. I guess Grant wasn't though, because he grabbed the remote and mumbled, "I hate fucking silence."

I laughed a little and then suddenly stopped when I saw what was on the local news channel.

"17 year old Cameron Morgan has been reported missing for almost two days know. Her mother, Rachel Morgan, says that she left the house at 7:30 p.m. two days ago, and hasn't come home since After watching footage from Jack-n-Cat's, a local family owned business, the leading suspects include: Zachary Goode, Jonas Allen (?), Grant Newman, Henry McDonnell, Mike Shooter, Greg Smith and Mickey Raleigh." I swear my jaw dropped as pictures of each of the suspects' picture danced across the screen.

"Shit," I whispered. "Did you…how long have things like this-?"

"8 hours after you came with us," Zach interrupted, finally looking up. "This is why we can't do stupid shit. 'Cause of jail. I can't go to jail." Jonas and Grant looked at me with an expression I couldn't quiet place. "I can't go to jail," he repeated, looking back down.

"Zach, come with me," I told him, standing up. He simply stared at me like I was an idiot. "Please? I need some air and…just come with me, okay?" To this day, I'm still confused what made me demand him to come with me. I guess when a person feels lost and is seriously pissed off, they do weird things. That makes perfect sense. In a completely stupid way. Get it? Probably not, but to me it does. To me it always will.

Zach agreed, though and came outside with me.

PAGE BREAK

Somehow, Zach and I ended up sitting on top of an empty dumpster, taking turns in asking questions.

"How many siblings do you have?" I asked.

"None. You?"

"None," I answered.

"How many times have you wanted to strangle me?" he questioned.

I giggled and answered, "Approximately one-thousand and three." He laughed a little too. "You aren't cold?" I suddenly asked, just noticing that he had a plain white tank-top on and snow was lying all around us.

"A little bit," he admitted. "But I'll live. It's not like being cold will kill me."

I was about to point out that being too cold could, in fact, kill you, but the piercing sound of police sirens and the bright red and blue lights interrupted us.

I had completely forgotten the situation I was in so I didn't move at first. "Of course," Zach whispered. He slid off the dumpster and began climbing the ladder that had brought us to the dumpster.

"What's…Shit!" I shouted, jumping off the dumpster and stepping onto the ladder. My knees were violently shaking making it more difficult to get up the ladder. "Zach! What do we do? Zach, help me out here where are we going?" I cried, finally stepping into the house.

Grant, Jonas and Zach were standing in the hall, trying to move the book shelf. I heard more sirens come from outside and I knew that the cop had called for back up. "Guys, hurry up!"

"Go grab some bottles of wine and a couple beers for us Cam," Jonas instructed. I nodded my head and obeyed. Once I had grabbed two bottles of red wine and a six-pack of beers out of the kitchen, I went back to the gang. The book shelf was moved and there was a small square whole in the bottom of the wall.

"Climb in," Zach told me. I hesitated. "Climb in, Cammie!" A loud knock on the door finally made me move, and I crawled into the gap.

"This is the police! Open up!" echoed through the house and I moved away from the opening.

Jonas slipped into the room and pointed to my left and said, "There is three mattresses, a couch, and some chairs that way. Be careful not to trip on anything."

I heard another knock, this time louder with more force. "Shit, man! They're trying to break down the door," Grant said, as he slid through the gap.

Zach ran to the other side of the house, something creaked, and then he came running back. He flew through the hole and Grant and Jonas rushed to meet him. They all grabbed the sides of the shelf and started pulling it towards them.

Another knock on the door and I heard the wood crack. I put down the drinks and rushed over to the shelf. I began pulling on it and it finally moved some. After what felt like forever, the shelf was in place.

Another bang on the door and it must have finally been down. People flooded in the house, making the wood creak. One man was shouting orders at the others. All the commotion was making me panic.

I gasped and Zach turned to, holding his finger over his lip. He began walking to me – so quietly – and pointed to the mattresses. He whispered, "Drink some wine and go to sleep. They'll be out of here soon. You'll be fine. I promise." He sounded so sure of himself and so calming it made it easy for me to just go sit on a mattress and pop open the wine.

I brought my lips to the bottle and drank until my hands stopped shaking. I started to feel a little dizzy, so I laid down and shut my eyes. I tried not to think. I tried to forget. I tried to calm down. I tried not to remember.

When the noises subsided and everyone started to act somewhat normal, consciousness slowly slipped away from me.