Cam POV
Zach and I currently were on our second Mission Impossible film. He'd convinced me to eat something and I was snacking on popcorn with him. My mom had phoned a few more times and I just stared at it.
'You're going to have to go back at some point' Zach pointed out. I sighed
'I know, but not right now' I tried to engross myself into the film, faintly aware that Zach would glance at me every now and then. I was also aware that somehow, we'd drifted closer together.
We were both sharing the popcorn bowl that was situated on my lap.
'Can I ask you something?' Zach asked.
'Okay…' I said cautiously.
'Why Roseville? Why move here of all places? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you're here but you lived in D.C. and now you're living the quiet life is a small town'
'It was my mom and aunt's decision. I didn't want really want to move, but mom was broken and even though she doesn't want to admit it, I saw how she was' I stared at my phone as another where are you text came through. 'I just hope that I'm not the reason for her to break this time'
'You won't be' Zach said confidently 'You're strong and I can tell that you'll just keep getting stronger'
'Thanks. That means a lot' I smiled. Zach was about to say something when the front door opened. I jumped out of my skin, spilling a few bits of popcorn.
'Zach, can you hel-' His dad said, coming through the door 'Oh, hello Cammie. It's nice to see you'
'It's nice to see you too, Edward' I smiled back
'Do you need a hand, dad?' Zach stood up and took a few of the shopping bags, lifting them effortlessly.
'Busy day?' I asked.
'Not busy, just a long day. I'm a doctor at Roseville General Hospital; nothing really happens in this town without everyone knowing. Speaking of which, I didn't realise that you know Joe Solomon' Edward said. I froze and so did Zach. 'He's just left your house'
'He's um...a family friend' I tried not to look at Zach, but I could tell he was looking at me.
'Joe's a good man' Edward commented. I just nodded, feeling the tension build up. 'Well, I'll leave you two alone, goodnight Cammie'
'Goodnight' I muttered. Edward put his shopping into the kitchen and then went upstairs. Zach placed his bags away and came back into the front room. He just stood there.
'I should be going' I reached for my jacket.
'Were you going to tell me?' He asked
'I don't know'
'You've just promised me that you weren't going to lie to me'
'And I'm not' I insisted 'Things between me and Joe are complicated, okay? I used to be able to talk to him about anything and everything! He taught me how to swim when dad was away, and he also picked me up from school when mom had to work late. He was almost always round at our house, then he moved for work about 6 years ago and we'd talk maybe once or twice a week, he'd visit us every holiday. Then my dad died and Joe vanished. There was nothing from him at all, and he didn't even have the guts to show his face at the funeral' I bit my lip to stop the tears I felt from falling.
'Cam, I-'
'Thank you for the ride and the movies and the talk. But I should really be getting home. Goodnight Zach'
I quickly left without another word and made my way over to my house. I double checked to make sure that Joe's car wasn't around. I then unlocked my door and went inside.
'Where have you been?' My mom stood up and folded her arms
'No, Hey kiddo, how was your day?' I quipped.
'Do not get sassy with me young lady. Where have you been?' She looked at me the way she did to some of her pupils when she was a teacher.
'I told you I was with my friends'
'I told you this morning that we had a guest coming round tonight'
'Why was it so important for me to be home? You've entertained guests before without me'
'This wasn't just any guest, this was family'
'If it was family then it would have been Abby; and Abby would still be here! So who was so important that I had to be home on time?'
'I'm not having this argument with you tonight'
'Good, because neither do I' I then marched upstairs and slammed my bedroom door. It took thirty seconds for the anger to leave my body, and then thirty more seconds for the tears to fall.
I found my phone and dialled Deedee's number. It rung and rung and then went to voicemail.
Hey you've reached Deedee! Sorry I'm not available right now but leave a message and I'll get back to you. Byyyyyyyyye.
'Dee, I really need you right now. Please call me back'
Part of me knew that she wouldn't call me back so instead I phoned Macey. She picked up on the second ring.
'If you're going to to grill me for not coming to the football game, I just have on thi-'
'Macey…' My voice cracked.
'Cammie? Oh my God, what's happened? Are you okay?'
I proceeded to tell her everything that happened, from Tina to Zach to Joe and then what happened with mom.
'Do you want to stay at mine? I'll come and pick you up if you want'
'No, it's fine. I'll be fine tomorrow'
'You sure?' She asked
'Yeah. I'll see you in school tomorrow. Bye Mace'
'Bye Cam'
...
After homeroom I went to the library to catch up on some homework and to catch up with everything that I've missed on the syllabus since moving. I had my headphones in and was really making progress on my reading list. Then someone cleared their throat. I glanced up and regretted it.
'What do you want?' I groaned, taking my headphones out
'I have study period too' Tina sat down opposite me 'And the library can be manic' I glanced around; the library was practically empty.
'Cut the crap, what do you want?' I snapped
'You went home with Zach last night'
'I know, I was there'
'Why did Zach give you a ride?'
'None of your business'
'Cammie, Cammie, Cammie' She shook her head and tutted 'I thought we were going to be great friends'
'Cut. The. Crap' I closed my book 'Let's get one thing perfectly clear; I don't particularly like you and quite frankly I'd love for you to leave me alone. I can't help you with your crush on Zach, and I definitely don't want to be your friend' I gathered up my books ready to leave.
'McHenry and him have a history, did you know that?' I narrowed my eyes, but all she did was smile. 'You didn't know? Oh, silly me' She gathered up her books and left. I stood there in the middle of the library looking and feeling like an idiot.
At lunch I was the last to join the table. Zach was at the far end in deep conversation with Grant. He glanced up quickly to look at me, once our eyes connected, he turned away.
'Cam, we're going to get pizza after school, do you want to join us?' Bex asked.
'Yeah sure'
'Uh oh, what's she done this time?' Bex folded her arms and leant forward
'What did who do?' Liz asked.
'Cammie has her I've just had an interesting conversation with Tina face on' Suddenly the whole table turned to listen into the conversation. 'So what did you say?'
'That we should be friends' I moved my food around. Macey laughed.
'Oh you've really got under her skin, Cammie. I applaud you' She gave me a small clap.
'What have I done?' I looked at everyone trying to work out what was going on.
'Absolutely nothing, but absolutely everything at the same time' Macey smiled wickedly.
'Yeah...I'm gonna need a translation'
'You've got people talking' Bex said 'That's all you had to do to get on Tina's bad side'
'Great, so me being new automatically means that she hates me' I rolled my eyes
'Not that!' Bex said excitedly 'The boys. Honestly Cam, the amount of times I've heard your name come from a male's mouth would shock you'
'But….but I'm...me. I blend in like a chameleon!'
'Well chameleon, looks like you've been doing a pretty bad job at blending in' Bex winked. I decided not to say anything, I just moved the food around my plate.
'Still up for pizza?' Macey asked.
'Sure' I smiled. Someone coughed behind me. I gritted my teeth preparing to see Tina behind me. 'What?' I snapped as I turned around. Instead of Tina, it was Joe. He raised his eyebrow at me. I shrugged 'I'm waiting'
'Miss Morgan, I need to have a word with you'
'You told me that it's optional to speak to you, and I don't really want to speak to you now' I turned away from him.
'Cameron, it is important that I speak to you'
'No' I looked over my shoulder 'I'm not changing my mind'
Joe looked at me carefully. His jaw tense. He didn't want to have this conversation here, yet he also knew that I wasn't going to give up without a fight.
'Cam, we've got to set up for our presentation in English' Zach said from the other end of the table. I looked at him confused. 'Come on it's next' He stood up from the table.
'I'll catch you guys later' I hurried along as well. Joe then stood in front of me.
'Why weren't you at dinner?' He asked
'You're not my parent, it shouldn't concern you' I quipped.
'When it upsets your mother, then it is my concern' Joe replied.
'You're not my dad' I snapped. Joe's jaw went slack.
I followed Zach out of the room before I could hear his reply.
'Are you alright?' He asked. I opened my mouth 'And don't say I'm fine'
'We don't have a presentation for English' I said instead.
'I know' He shrugged 'But you looked like you wanted to be anywhere other than sitting at the table or where the conversation was heading'
'Where was the conversation heading?' I asked. Zach gave a nervous laugh.
'I know what some of these guys are like, and I don't like the idea of them talking about you' I was touched that he cared about me so much in that respect.
'Thanks' I again went to move another stray bit of hair that fell, but once again Zach beat me. He cupped my face again.
'I'm sorry for how I acted the first time I met you' Zach muttered
'It's fine' I said. Zach chuckled
'You like saying that, don't you?'
'What?'
'Fine'
'Fine is a word that can be used in different ways' I began to nervously babble
'Mmm'
'It can be used as an adjective, a noun, an adverb'
'Mmm' The gap between Zach and me seemed to have closed a lot.
'I should stop talking'
'I like the sound of your voice' His voice fell over me like silk. If he likes my voice, then God knows what his voice does to me. I bit my lip. Zach's gaze flickered down quickly.
'Zach…' I moaned. His eyes connecting with mine. I almost gasped with how dilated and electric they looked. He let out an unsteady breath.
'Do me a favour Gallagher girl?' He began 'Never say my name like that again'
'Why?' I asked, my voice higher than usual.
'Because I don't think I'll be able to control myself if you do'
Before I could respond, the bell rung and Zach stepped away from me, dropping his hand in the process.
'I'll see you tomorrow Gallagher girl'
'Aren't you coming for pizza?' I asked, my brain still felt fuzzy. Zach shook his head.
'See you tomorrow'
Author's note: Zach and Cammie had a moment! Zach can't control himself around Cammie, is that a good thing? Or will it lead to disaster? Looking back at 2018 I've had such a rollercoaster of a year. It has been an amazing year for writing which truly I am grateful for. I've loved having the feedback from all of you especially my long term readers. Thank you all so much! I also want to say thank you to everyone who messaged me when I was going through a hard time at the beginning of the year, honestly it did mean so much to me. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and I hope that you all have a lovely new year. I look forward to seeing you all in 2019! xxx
GirafeRosie: Zammie didn't have their kiss today...but Zach has confessed that Cammie saying his name in a particular way drives him crazy. Thank you so so so so so much! xxx
Smiles180: Tina has a lot in store for Cammie. I love this slow progression of Zammie, it's not too fast especially with how broken Cammie is xxx
GallagherGirls13BYE: I love Joe being there too. In the books he was always there and seemed to know everything which is similar to his character now. Cammie will tell Zach the truth soon, in all good time. Cammie's been hurt and she's hurt people in her past so she finds it hard to open up to anyone. xxx
GallagherGirlsEmbassyRowFan: Tina has her reasons but also knows a lot more about Cammie than she's letting on. This was another little Zammie moment for you, but there will be a whole Zammie chapter very, very soon. I like the idea that their secrets are locked at the bottom of their hearts. Tina will get more than a knock...a broken nose perhaps xxx
gymnast1150: I'm so glad you're excited to see what will happen! I've been writing so much over this Christmas break! All I can say is that Cammie's in for a rollercoaster. Joe will explain in good time (that is if Cammie will listen). Swooning will happen a lot with Zammie. This version of Zach is by far one of my favourite versions I've written. Of course I shouted you out! You've by far made my 2018 more interesting. I love our little chats and I can't wait to see what 2019 will bring for us both xxx
Chameleon1321: Thank you so much xxx
Guest: Thank you so much! I hope that you like this chapter xxx
AllyCarterFan/FanLurker: HEYYYYYYY GURLLLLLL! I love Zach being sweet as well. He was a bit of a dick to begin with but he's caring and looking out for Cammie which is GOALS. Thank you so so so so much! xxx
ALLY CARTER 4 EVER: All in good time..xxx
Original Gallaghergirl: You don't need to keep reviews PG if you don't want. I don't really care, I swear a lot anyway :). Jonas and Cammie is an interesting friendship for me, there's just something about him which makes me want to know more. Thank you so much! xxx
