disclaimer: I go to high school. Do you think I own GG?

More Than Meets The Eye

Dedicated to the very musically talented Tang Si Ming-Yue

Chapter Seven

From the second I knew I had Drama as my elective, I knew I would be improving my Covert Operations skills. Drama was all about keeping in character; not bursting out into laughter in the middle of a serious scene; crying when you're supposed to; acting joyful because the scene calls for it; keeping your cool throughout. That's exactly what CoveOps trained teenage spies to do—except it's way more dangerous, like grappling-down-an-infiltrated-burning-down-building dangerous.

Thanks to the tongue twisters, goofy exercises, and the eccentric students in my sixth period Drama class, my first day at a regular high school ended on a happy note.

"I can't wait to try out for the winter play," Maddie chimed as we walked out of the room together. "I wonder what it'll be. Maybe Romeo and Juliet!" She held her arm out and high and recited, "O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

She definitely struck me as the theatrical type.

Maddie began to deliver other lines from the play in the most ridiculous manner. I didn't know what amazed me more: her incredible memory or the fact she was making a fool out of herself and she didn't even seem to care.

"Not that again," a familiar voice griped from behind us. I recognized it as Carter's because I'm trained for that kind of thing—Maddie recognized it as his because she's been around him for years.

Right in the middle of her "performance" she slid in "Shut up, Carter" and started right where she left off.

Carter slinked into step beside me and Zach was next to Maddie..

"Oh." Maddie concluded her show quickly and brushed her hair out of her face. "Hi, Zach." She smiled.

"Hey, Maddie," he replied. "Where did you two come from?"

"Drama," the freshman answered. "What about you guys?"

"Guitar," Carter said, putting his arms around an imaginary guitar and started to strum. "By the end of this semester, I'll be outside every girl's window playing—including yours." He raised his eyebrows suggestively at me.

I only rolled my eyes and retorted, "Don't you have to be somewhere?" This guy was starting to get on my nerves, first he's getting a little too comfortable around me and second what person gets mad at a friend but still hangs out with her? He just wasn't making any sense (as a lot of guys in my life then were).

"Yeah, Carter," Maddie sniggered. "Doesn't your mom want you home ten minutes after school now, since last week?"

"Aw shiz," he groaned. "I gotta go! See you"—wink—"tomorrow."

Carter sprinted off campus and turned a corner. We continued to walk with the sea of students heading out the way we entered that morning. Unlike this morning, there were hardly any clouds in the sky and the sun was shining brightly on my bare arms. I couldn't help but smirk at Zach, who was probably sweating in his sweater.

"So do your parents want you home at a certain time?" I asked Maddie.

"On Wednesdays, I have piano lessons after school—so I just walk to my teacher's house. Every other day, well it depends if I have plans. Usually my mom picks me up. But that was last year," she explained with a shrug. "Are you guys going home right now?"

"Yeah," Zach and I answered simultaneously.

"Where's your piano teacher's house?" I questioned.

She pointed in the same direction as Zach's relatives' house and it crossed my mind that Maddie could be a student of Mrs. Goode's.

Not so coincidently, Zach was thinking the same thing because he said, "Mrs. Goode?"

Maddie's eyes lit up. "Yeah, but I call her Mrs. Ceci. How'd you know?"

"She's my aunt," he replied.

Her eyes widened a little. "Really? Why haven't I seen you around?"

"We transferred here from—"

"WE?" Maddie cocked an eyebrow.

Zach nodded. "Me and Gallagher Girl here."

"Really!?" She whipped her head around to me to see if he was just kidding around.

"He's not lying," I confirmed.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "That's cool!"

"Not as much as you think," I muttered under my breath.

"Where did you guys come from?" Maddie continued to ask.

We replied "Virgina" and "Maine" at the same time, which confused Maddie.

"We go to different schools," I explained, "We did a school transfer last semester."

"Ohh, okay," she said, "I get it!"

We started in the direction of the Goodes's household talking about our first day at school. In a way, the three of us all had our first day at high school. Maddie was just a freshman—then again, she already knew how regular schools worked—and although Zach and I were juniors, we just enrolled in a regular school.

"Ugh! I have homework already!" Maddie whined as we stepped onto the Goodes's driveway. "It's this stupid scavenger hunt and there are, like, a million questions! I won't be able to finish with—wait, hold up!" She suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around to face us.

Zach and I pretty much knew why she had stopped us. Before she could open her mouth to ask her question we already had an answer ready.

"I get why Zach's coming here, since this is his aunt's house and all," she said, her eyebrows knitting together, "but why are you coming?" She looked at me quizzically.

"I'm living here," I stated simply.

Her face turned blank, trying to comprehend my words.

"We," Zach said in a slow voice, gesturing to the both of us, "are living and sleeping and eating"—he made appropriate rude gestures for each verb—"in the same house," he finished by pointing to the building behind Maddie.

Her eyes turned wide for a moment. She could only say, "Oh," as Zach walked past her to the front door.

She turned to me and whispered excitedly, "You are so lucky! You get to see that every night!"

I shook my head; the only thing Zach's really done in the past twenty-four hours is confuse me. At our last meeting, he kissed me. Now, he acts like it didn't even happen. I'm pretty sure for any girl, that's puzzling. But I wasn't about to bring it up—at least not yet.

But Maddie didn't buy it; she bumped my hip and elbowed me.

"Madison!" Ceci Goode called from the doorframe. "I'm glad you made new friends, but you're late!"

Maddie laughed, "I'm comin', I'm comin'!" She smiled back at me and ran into the house.

"Good afternoon, Cameron," Mrs. Goode said to me as I closed the door. "Did you have a good first day?"

I looked over her shoulder at the freshmen sitting in front of a piano, taking out her books, and thought about the students I'd met that day, how they might he able to me in figuring this mystery out, and how complicated life can be for a regular high schooler.

I smiled and replied, "It was productive."

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a/n: Augh! Sorry I took so long with this chapter! I've been busier than usual with school projects (one of which was for PE, of all subjects! -.-), my weekends have been booked, and I just signed up to help with tech stuff in the theatre so I've been staying at school later than usual. D: But there is good news! I've planned out a few chapters ahead and I even thought up a great climax-type-thing! I can't wait to get there! (: I'm trying my best to crank out these chapters, but you can help me! If you could review and tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and/or any suggestions you might have, PLEASE DO SO. Thank you! :D You guys are the best!