I woke up really groggy, I must have been in a really heavy sleep. I looked at the clock, it was lunch time. I wasn't hungry though, so I got dressed in a cute outfit of dark wash jean shorts and a white lacy off the shoulder body suit. It looked like such a beautiful day why not go walk down the paths of trees in the back yard of a field.

I reached the end of the paver path, the sun heating the bricks up so my feet were almost too hot. Zach was sitting on a bench over looking the small man made lake.

"Hey" I said from quietly behind him.

"Hey" he practically whispered.

"Are you alright?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Bad press?" He shook his head no. "Why aren't you hyped up? Tomorrow is your dads bachelor party!" I I walked around the back of the bench to sit next to him.

"Yeah I don't even want to go, I will because it's my dad but..." he shrugged his shoulders, still staring at the water, not even looking my way.

"Okay...um do you want to do something today? I mean before my graduation ceremony?"

"You go do your thing today, then go graduate. Go hang out with Bex and Macey and Liz afterwards."

"Zach are you okay?"

"Cammie." He never says my name...something's wrong! "I'm fine, have a great day, congratulations on your graduation." And with that he got up and walked past me back towards the house, not making eye contact.

After that weird encounter with Zach earlier I picked some fruit from the trees in my backyard and then got changed into my white lacy dress for graduation. We were having a very fancy dinner at my house, Bex, Liz, Macey and all their parents would be joining me and my pf or dinner. Zach was someone hiding in my house, not joining us for dinner.

By the time I had gotten home that night from stopping at Bex's after my graduation ceremony, I was slightly buzzed and still wearing my graduation gown, carrying my cap. My parents had already gone off to bed and I made my way to my room, bumping into Zach walking out of the bathroom, which I passed to get to my bed room. "Hey" he whispered.

I giggled, "Hey"

"Do I smell alcohol on your breath?"

"Hmm only a little, no need to worry. I'm not a little girl."

"Please be careful Cam.."

"Oh well..." I giggled, "you're not my boyfriend or my parents! I can handle a little bit of something to drink!"

"I didn't say you couldn't, just be careful." His voice turning firm at the "be careful."

I let out another giggle, "You're kinda cute when you get frustrated with me."

"Don't start this."

I made a pouty face, "Start what?" I was genuinely confused.

"The teasing, the flirting, I can't do it."

That line made a sober up, what? Do I like Zach? I mean probably some but...why can't he flirt back like he used to? I guess I had hurt written all over my face because Zach stepped closer. He cupped the left side of my face in his hand "I can't do it...at least not now. Go to sleep." I was dazed and confused at what just happened so I shook my head yes and continued to walk to my room.

"Oh and Gallagher Girl?" I turned around, "hmm?"

"Congratulations on your graduation."

A gave him a sleepy smile and thanked him.

The next day Zach was gone most of the day helping set up his dads bachelor party. So I was just lazy around my house, preparing for having to wake up early to be back on set tomorrow, being commanded to do stupid stuff and deal with Tina and her attitude. All day I just laid around the pool, picked some fruits and veggies with my mom and helped her cook dinner. Then let her be alone with my dad after dinner. The sun had almost disappeared from the sky, but it being summer it was eight something in the night.

"Hey" I head a deep voice say from behind me, I sat up from laying on a lounge chair next to the pool. It was Zach.

"Hey" he walked over to me and sat on the edge of the lounge chair next to me. "Shouldn't you be with your dad at his party tonight?" I asked.

He just shrugged his shoulders, "So...yes?"

He pressed his lips together then said "Yeah but I left early."

"Well obviously! Why?"

"They were starting to drink a lot and as a joke one of his friends had strippers show up."

"So? Isn't that every 18 year old guy's dream? To take shots and get a lap dance?"

"Not from a stripper."

I let out a short laugh, "Okay well then from who?" Zach just looked into my eyes, gave my bikini clad body a long look up and down then back to my eyes. "I'm not going to answer that one. You can make your assumptions." With that he stood up and offered his hand, "Come on Gallagher Girl, you need to get some beauty sleep. You have to wake up early tomorrow."

I crossed my arms, "So? So do you."

"Come on, that much skin showing the bugs are going to start biting every inch of you! Put some clothes on!"

"It didn't bother you a minute ago that I was showing this much skin!"

"That's it!" Zach picked me up from laying down to now I'm over his shoulder and then suddenly I felt my back hitting the cool pool water. That jerk! He threw me into the pool!

I came up from underwater, "That was rude," I stuck my hand out, "At least help me out!"

Zach rolled his eyes, "Fine.." he reached to help me out and I pulled him him.

Zach stuck his head back through the water, "Bitch!"

I was laughing so hard I could barely manage to get out, "You should have seen that coming!"

He rolled his eyes and swam to the stairs in the pool, "Yeah yeah, come on, let's go put some dry clothes on and go in the house."

As I got out of the pool and got my towel I locked eyes with Zach, his eyes darkened and filled with...lust? Confusion? Maybe a little bit if hurt? What's going on with him? "So..." I started as we made our way from the patio path to the doors to the back of my house. "Why did you leave early?"

Zach, in front of me walking to the house answered, "I drank a bit with them but I have somewhere to be tomorrow morning real early and I wasn't that interested in a lap dance from some stranger...especially one with silicone boobs." I let out a small laugh at the silicone comment.

"Ya know..it would be interesting..."

"What a lap dance?"

"No, to drink together, at least a little bit." Zach stepped into the house, locked eyes with me, raised an eyebrow and said, "Hm maybe someday Gallagher Girl, but maybe you should start by not drinking any tea next time we are alone together." And with that, he turned on his heel, and made is way to the stairs up to his room, not looking back at me. Tea? When did. Drink tea? When we had chick-fil-a together the other night? I don't remember ordering tea to-go from there, I swore I ordered lemonade but I guess I drank tea sometime in front of him. I don't see how that has anything to do with being alone together

•

The next morning when I arrived on set, the assistant director caught me as I walked in. "They need you in the filing room, warehouse twelve." Ashley, Tina's assistant, stood in the background, nodding. She held a tray of coffee cups with one empty slot. A matching cup rested in the assistant director's hand. Ashley said, "I've got this set covered. You go ahead."

"No problem." I said as I turned back to the door. Ashley's hurried stomps caught up to me. "Coffee?" she asked loudly. I shook my head as I walked to the door of the set, on my way to the one next door. Ashley knew i didn't like coffee, she leaned close to me and whispered, "Sleeping with someone may have gotten you the job, but I guess whoring won't save you from filing." My eyes flashed anger at her, "What? That wasn't part of your interview too?" Ashley's hazel eyes glowered. "I'll go do my job now. You have no idea how much I have to do around here."

"Who do you think I slept with?" I snapped.

"Uh!" She let out a fake short laugh, "We all know." Ashley scooted back and pounded her way to the coffee cart. I made a detour by the makeup station. While walking, I sent a quick, unhappy text off a text to Macey, "Hollywood gossip says I slept with someone to get this job." Macey texted, "I have seen the back of your head in pictures online with Zach and your shoulder cut off in other pictures...fakes are always trying to make a story out of something."

I sighed and texted back, "I guess :/ Especially since Garrett made a comment about Zach, claiming Zach is really such a playboy, who is the next girl-toy for Zach? Press makin it look like me : ("

Macey's grey typing bubble popped up and turned into, "So Zach, secret one of us, is he sweet and logical or actually a player?"

"Well..."

Macey was not pleased with that answer as she texted me "?!"

"I'll have to call u later! Love you! Gotta go!"

After I left the drama behind with Ashley, I was in search of warehouse twelve. It stood near the main office buildings. Hm, wonder if Dad is here...

I walked to the main building, taking the elevator to the top floor. Tap, tap, tap. "Dad in?" I asked his secretary. "Sorry, dear, he's got meetings all day." I smiled and thanked her, wondering if had was in a meeting for movies and producing or if he was on a mini mission or maybe helping at my school with something.

I backtracked it to warehouse twelve, as soon as I stepped inside, a gray-haired woman sat at a long counter with row upon row of floor-to-ceiling racks behind her.

"Hi! Good morning, I'm Cameron Morgan, here to assist for the day." The woman slowly raised her eyes from the papers in front of her and gestured behind her. So, I moved around the counter with the loose directions I was given. Boxes of papers were stacked under the counter and on the floor all around her chair. The lady lifted a piece of paper, stared at the words, then wrote a number in the top right corner. Then she put the coded piece of paper in an outbox to her left. She nudged the outbox toward me. "File these. The shelves and folders are numbered." I lifted the papers and headed into the world of filing. Minutes in the world of filing crawled by like the snow in Canada melted in the winter —slow. I really needed to thank Dad for getting me the job on the set instead of in an office because this was painful. However, spy paperwork after a mission was almost just as bad. I checked the clock on the wall. It had to be almost noon. The clock read nine forty-five. Damn, so I took a deep breath and got back to it. After about fifteen more minutes my eyes seemed to be blurring the papers to look all the same, I swallowed and trekked if back to the front. "Are there any vending machines near here?" The grey head shook. "They didn't want to risk anything getting wet. Or people taking too many breaks."

"So no restroom either?"

"You have to go two buildings over for that." This is worse than prison, not dealt it still. I'd rather sit through a three hour history of etiquette of the placement of forks at the dinner table. Still filing, I went back to row 844 to continue filing and ended up playing games and scrolling through Instagram on phone until the battery ran down. I filed everything I could, and the only things left in my pile were ones labeled with a number and the letter B. I jogged back to the front, "I can't find row 72B." The gray-haired lady let her hand drape off the counter and she pointed downwards. "Below this floor. Sub-basement filing." Noon. Thank you, God. I climbed from the basement storage and dropped off the empty outbox with the filing lady. Filing lady didn't say thanks. Well, you're welcome for doing your work while you sat at your computer and played solitaire. I waved anyway and ran for the exit. As soon as. The doors closed behind me and I was outside, threw my arms out in tho air, blinked against the sunlight, and sucked in a breath free of the smell of paper. Odd how just being in a filing room could make you so thirsty. Maybe if was the dry air, or maybe it was the knowledge that the building didn't have a drink machine. Damn I couldn't have a drink, so I really wanted a drink—the lure of the forbidden, at least a water bottle. Raising my arms over my head, stretching as i made my way toward the set.

In addition to boredom and thirst, the repetitive task of filing in the cold basement level of the warehouse had made me stiff. I definitely needed to go to the gym tonight and work out and have a quick tiquando touch up. Stretching on tiptoes to work out my muscles, I spotted a new coffee kiosk and went to see if they had hot chocolate. They did, but they also had hot tea. I used to have hot tea all the time in any etiquette class, it was so good, so hot tea it was today. Craft services offered tea on set, but theirs tasted like the bottom of the coffee pot they brewed it in, so I only made the mistake of drinking it once. I stutter in sugar and popped on the white lid, the steam of the tea seeped through the hole. Sipping the drink, I made the short walk back, enjoying the warmth of the cup against my cold fingers.

Inside, the stage area was quiet, which meant shooting. I eased closer. "Cut," the director said right as I got close enough to watch. Honestly, I hope they'd resume soon, I don't like to shower Zach with compliments to his face, but I can sure think them. When Zach transformed into character, his eyes changed, his posture changed. He became the other person, intense, amazing, I don't think I'll ever told him because he had enough praise. Plus, Ashley usually began the compliments, but others chimed in. Zach didn't need me gushing too. "Zach, sorry to hear about your dad," the director said. "If you're going to need time off during the shoot, we need to schedule the break now." Zach waved a dismissive hand. "It's fine, Russ." "I know how hard a dangerous car accident can be," the director said. "Garrett will be on set again soon for more shooting." Zach's face took on a detached expression. "Not a problem." The director looked like he would say more, but Zach left him and joined me. He took my cup and sipped. He blinked and his shoulders relaxed. "Tea." Fetching him a drink and having him take mine were two different things. Staking her claim, I took the tea back from him and took a drink, holding his gaze while I did it. Zach frowned, and spoke with a heavier, deeper voice than usual, "Where'd you get it then?"

I just raised an eyebrow. "That's for me to know and you to find out." I stroked a finger down the side of the cup. "Yum." "That's rubbish. I know that cup's not from this set."

"Hm your right..." I lowered my volume and took a step closer to him, and whispered, "Your Dad? Car accident?"

Zach bent down slightly and whispered in my ear, "Another lie Garrett made up. He's getting lots of press attention so he has to keep giving them something so they keep coming back to him. My dad is fine. With Abby, currently in Ireland on a quick mission."