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Disclaimer: Ally Carter owns all.
Chapter 9
ZPOV
"Close your eyes." We heard Mr. Solomon from the back of the room, "Ms. Fetterman, how many pieces of chalk are on the blackboard tray?"
"11 and a half."
"Ms. Alvarez, how many steps has Ms. Baxter taken since she's walked into this room?"
"27."
"Which one of you boys can tell me who the Chameleon is?" All of us guys looked around at each other. Of course we knew! He is the greatest CIA legacy of all time! I looked at all of the girls in the room. They seemed…unfazed.
"Uh- sir? Where's Mr. Alexander?" a boy from the back of the room timidly asked.
"He has been sent on a mission. Now, answer my question gentlemen."
"The Chameleon is the greatest legend here at Blackthorne." said Nick. By now, the girls looked like they were about to explode. Even Mr. Solomon was starting to crack.
"Now, tell me more about the Chameleon Ms. Morgan." Everyone looked to Cammie. She just smiled at Mr. Solomon. She stood up and walked up the aisle of desks. She came to the end and stood next to Mr. Solomon.
"How much should I tell them?" she whispered.
"Well we don't want to be giving away all of our secrets." He smiled down at her. She nodded, understanding.
"The Chameleon is a CIA legacy. The best? Well I'm not sure about that." Boys around the room scoffed, including myself, "The Chameleon's first mission was at the age of four. The operative went to Argentina with he or she's parents. They took down a splinter group of the Russian mob that was hiding out by the coastline. The next few years of The Chameleon's life was dedicated to bringing down the entirety of the Russian mob. Mission success. He or she trained with Joe Solomon, as you may or may not know, he or she's parents, and he or she's aunt. Together, they were a team. In the the Chameleon's school years, he or she tailed Mr. Smith, teacher at the Gallagher Academy, for 5 hours straight, and was never found. The Chameleon got it's codename because of he or she's natural pavement artist abilities. When The Chameleon doesn't want to be found, the Chameleon isn't found. Last but not least, the Chameleon…is 17 years old and is a g-"
"Okay Ms. Morgan, heh I believe that is enough." Mr. Solomon cut her off.
"How do you know so much about the Chameleon? We don't know HALF of that stuff! We all at one point OBSESSED over the Chameleon!" a boy named Max pointed out.
"I have my resources." She stated. Everyone stared at her strangely. Her friends were all giggling and Mr. Solomon just shook his head. This-was SERIOUSLY confusing.
"Well we all know the Chameleon's a guy!" Max yelled out.
"Do you?" Cammie whipped her head around with a fire in her eyes.
"Well of course! Only a GUY could be that amazing!" Max said. Slowly, every girl in the room stood up and turned to Max.
"You REALLY didn't get the message in P&E, did you?" Said Macey.
"Maybe we should re-teach it to them ladies." Cammie smiled evily.
"WE BLOODY WILL!" Bex was lunging at Max when suddenly; Mr. Solomon pulled her back.
"Aww! We were just about to have some fun!" Cammie pouted. A couple guys were surprised by her informal attitude.
"C'mon ladies, we don't want to bloody them up too much! We can't have them in wheelchairs on our little field trip tomorrow afternoon, now can we?" Mr. Solomon said smiling. A couple of girls started squealing. Bex looked like she was going to kill something, bring it back to life, and kill it again. Cammie just laughed and hugged Mr. Solomon. Every guy gasped, waiting for him to snap her neck. Instead, he just laughed and hugged her even tighter.
What the hell was this? A joke?
CPOV
I just keep replaying the scene in CoveOps yesterday in my head. It was just to god damn funny! Those guys don't even have a CLUE! They say that they know so much about the Chameleon when they don't. I should know, considering I am the Chameleon.
Though another thing is stuck in my mind. Zach. We almost kissed. That was too crazy for me. I barely know him. Macey thinks it's destined, but I'm not sure about that. He's probably just another player. I think it was a sign that I shouldn't kiss him when I saw the picture of my dad. It was like my dad was saying, "What are you doing Cammie? You're here to expand your training, not kiss boys!" My dad was in the freaking Blackthorne hall of fame! How crazy is that? His picture nice and big on that wall.
"Shit Cammie hold still! I almost poked your eye out!" Said Macey. We had an hour until we had to meet Joe for our field trip. Macey was making all of us look presentable as usual.
After 20 minutes of plucking and primping, we were ready. Bex was in union jack skinny jeans that had a British flag on the top right pocket-very appropriate. Then she wore another union jack item, a cropped loose shirt that was one huge British flag. (once again, very appropriate.) She also wore black combat boots. She had loosely curled hair and pretty light make up.
Macey wore sky blue skinny jeans that brought out her eyes and a white v-neck short-sleeved shirt. For shoes, she wore white gladiators. Her make up was simple and her hair of course, natural with her bangs braided and pinned back.
Liz wasn't going since she was in the Research & Development track. No need to prepare her. Lucky Lizzie.
Macey let me off the hook for the night. I got to wear cropped black leggings and white knit sweater. I just wore white Keds with that. Mace insisted on curling my hair, so I let her do that much.
We walked down to the foyer to meet Joe. A lot of the girls still don't understand that it's best to look natural. They were all wearing heels and mini skirts and dresses. Joe nodded in approval at my roommates and I. Clearly, we were on the right track.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this afternoon, we will be going into town." Boys high fived and girls squealed at that, "BUT, you will be tailing each other. No disguises. You all know each others faces now. Just compromise anyone you see from this class. You will all get comms units that only connect to mine. That way, no one can hear you and get a hint as to where you are. Boys, it's time to redeem yourselves. Girls? Don't let them do that." With that, he brought us to the school van.
I got wedged between Macey and Bex. Zach and his buddies sat in the row in front of us. I just stared at the back of Zach's head. I noticed how quiet he was. His head was just cocked, like he was trying to understand something. I've figured out so far that he doesn't like not knowing why things are. He's stubborn. Life isn't an encryption. You can't just figure it out in 10 minutes. It takes your entire life to find all the answers. It's like a new firewall you have to crack for every year.
Soon enough, we arrived in town. It was a small town, sort of like Roseville, but not as populated. This is the small towns of all small towns. Like something out of a movie. Joe looked at us all for one more minute.
"Time to release your inner Chameleon." He said, eyeing me. I just smirked and broke off from the group first. I heard some of the girls chuckle. I even heard Grant ask what was going on.
Oh if only they knew they were going right up against the Chameleon.
It was obviously lunch time because:
1) My inner clock told me it was 12:30.
2) People were crowding in the few cafes and restaurants.
3) My stomach was growling like crazy.
I decided since most of the civilians were eating, I would blend in with them. I ALSO decided that I had a real craving for a tomato mozzarella panini and hot chocolate.
I sat down at an outdoor table that wasn't too near the street. I sat at a table that had a girl who looked about 13 sitting alone.
"Mind if I sit?" I asked. She looked up at me surprised. She had red hair and freckles with light greenish bluish eyes. Her skin was fair and was about 5'4''.
"Oh! Umm of course not. Yeah it's perfectly fine uh definitely- I mean you don't HAVE to it's your choice, but I guess you want to since you asked-" She stopped suddenly and blushed.
"You think too much. Relax! I just needed a place to sit. Are you here all alone?" I said. She suddenly seemed sad.
"Well, some of the popular girls from school said they wanted to have lunch with me, but I think they just said that to mock me. I'm the geeky girl. No one pays attention to me. I'm kind of like a-"
"Chameleon?"
"H-How did you know?" She looked up at me bewildered.
"Because I'm a Chameleon too. In fact, that's what my friends call me."
"Bu-But you're so pretty! And nice! And pretty! Oh man! I already said that! I'm sorry! I kind of ramble sometimes…" she looked down at her feet, obviously embarrassed.
"Look, there's absolutely nothing wrong about being the invisible girl. I have three beautiful best friends and I've always lived in the shadow of their beauty, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes, it's good to be that girl. We're both beautiful, but in our own way. So lets make a toast. To the Chameleons?" I raised my hot chocolate. She raised hers.
"To the Chameleons." She said, smiling up at me.
"Ms. Alvarez, you have been compromised." I heard Joe say in my ear. Eva was out. She's one of my sisters. Time to get one of those boys out. They can't just get away with that.
"It's been awesome meeting you, but I really should be going. Remember what I said, OK?" I looked down at the girl. She beamed at me.
"I'll never forget. Ever."
"Good. Bye now!" I slunk away, remembering to stay in the shadows. I searched the town square looking for anyone to compromise.
"Mr. Solomon? Do you mind if I spoke to you without people hearing you. It's about- my codename." I said into my comms. I heard him sigh.
"Okay Cammie, only you can hear me. What do you want to say about it?" he asked.
"Well, I just had a conversation with a young girl."
"I heard. Very inspirational. Nice job." He congratulated.
"Oh thanks, but that's not what I wanted to say. What I want to know is why do I have to hide who I am. I mean, sure I'm a big shot with these boys, but I don't like not being the real Cammie Morgan. Right now I feel half empty." I said.
"You mean half full. C'mon Cammie be optimistic. Oh hold on-Mr. Dunbar, you have been compromised-okay back to you Cam."
"Well how can I be optimistic if I'm not being the Chameleon? That's the only thing that makes me proud about myself. Being a pavement artist is something that I like to own. I'm not saying I like the attention, I just want people to know that there's something more to me." I said. Joe sighed again.
"Okay we'll tell them soon. Even though you don't like extra attention, I want to make it something special. Ok? Make these boys jaws fall off."
"Sounds like a plan." I laughed.
"Great!"
"Oh by the way, I see Nick trying to hide behind that ice cream truck."
"Mr. Peterson, you have been compromised."
Silly boys.
The rest of the assignment went smoothly. It was finally down to Bex, Tina, Zach, and I. I was tired now. I didn't even care who it was I got out now.
"Ms. Baxter you have been compromised." I swear. Wasn't me. Just then I saw Tina talking to a group of boys from town and laughing with them obnoxiously. Some girls just aren't cut out to hide in the open. I called herout. Tina slumped down, clearly upset. So now it was just the smirking boy wonder and I.
I sat down on a bench by small garden in the middle of the square. I thought that this was the best observation point. I closed my eyes, remembering EXACTLY what Zach was wearing: black t-shirt, jeans, and grey vans. I thought about his personality. Where was Zachary Goode most likely hiding? He's a gorgeous guy, so he would probably have girls following him everywhere.
I analyzed every group of girls that I could see. I came upon a group of girls who kept giggling and pointing at something. That something was, of course, Zach. I got up and made my way towards him. He was standing in front of a flower shop. I decided not to compromise him. Not yet at least.
I sat down on the curb in front of him. I could tell he was straining to find me. If only he would just look down.
I suddenly had an idea. I whispered to Solomon, "Mr. Solomon, please put my through to Zach's comms." I whispered. I hear him chuckle and assumed I was in.
"Hello Blackthorne Boy." I whispered. I heard his sharp intake of breath behind me. I just don't think he can see. I got up and literally walked right by him. I stood behind that group of girls that have been following him.
"Where the hell are you Gallagher Girl." I heard his smirk through his voice.
"Well I WAS right under your nose, but now I'm looking at the back of your head." He slowly turned around, obviously confused. I started walking again. I went to the other side of the street and leaned up against the lamppost. He turned back to his original position.
"Stop messing with me Gallagher Girl."
"I'm not messing around Zachypoo. You're just too slow for me. Now I'm staring right into your eyes." His eyes darted around. I started laughing really hard.
"He's standing in front of the floral shop Mr. Solomon." I said. I saw Zach slump.
"I think you know what I'm going to say now Mr. Goode." I heard Zach mumble something slightly inaudible that sounded like he said ridicule. I darted across the street and positioned myself behind him.
"I'm sorry, what did you say Blackthorne Boy?" He jumped in surprise and turned around with a smirk on his face.
"Just was saying how maybe I should stop little you win." His smirk widened, obviously please with his answer.
"As if! Now I would get that smirk off your dopey little face before I get it off for you." He just laughed. Suddenly I had his arm pulled up behind his back.
"I'm not to be underestimated, got it?" He nodded, "Meet you back at Blackthorne." I released him and sauntered off slowly for dramatic effect."
"Jesus Christ…" I heard him whisper through my comms.
"Not quite Blackthorne Boy, but very, very close."
