thank you all for 2000+ views! im so glad you guys like this story, and while im facing a bit of writers block rn, im working to get over it and finish the story! enjoy! :))
Chapter 22
The bus ride passed in what seemed like 10 minutes, as everyone had fallen asleep. Soloman walked down the rows, waking everyone up and making sure the doors stayed open. The winter sun was shining through the bus windows, casting light on the sleeping students. Most had woken up, and were stretching out in the aisle. Macey and the others had woken up, cracking their backs and relieving cramped muscles. Cammie however, was still in a deep sleep on Zach's chest. He was trying to unwind her from the seatbelt without waking her up. Zach managed to unravel the knotted seatbelt, and hoisted Cammie up into the air bridal style. Bending down to grab the backpacks on the floor, he had to carefully slip their bags over his shoulders. After managing the task, Zach followed Grant down the bus steps into Blackthorne's campus, the immediate smell of pine trees filling their senses. The dining hall of Blackthorne was lit up for breakfast, with trace scents of bacon floating through the air. Walking into the hall, noises of the boys' eating and talking surrounded them, the warmth from inside shockingly different from the cold outdoors. Bex and Grant sat down at a middle table, everyone else following suit. Zach sat down at the edge of the table, laying Cammie out along the bench so that her head was in his lap and she could continue sleeping.
"Grant, when you go up there. can you grab me a waffle or something? Or eggs, whatever you can get, as long as it's a lot," Zach said, tracing Cammie's face as he talked to Grant. Grant nodded, and immediately walked to the buffet line and grabbed two plates. Grant definitely knew how to eat, and the plates were loaded with fresh fruit, bacon, and a variety of pancakes and waffles.
"Here you go dude, I got some extra for Cammie in case she wakes up," Grant said, sitting down next to Bex and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed, and grabbed some fruit off his plate. Macey and Preston were talking together while they ate, and Jonas and Liz were discussing chemistry quietly. Zach looked down at the blonde hair in his lap, starting to twist it while he zoned out into space, finally able to relax. Or he was relaxed, until movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He slightly turned, spotting Dillon sitting down at the table to the left of theirs. Dillon found Zach's eyes, and raised an eyebrow at him. Zach shook out of his stupor, focusing on his plate of food instead. Nothing Dillon did concerned him, at least not yet. Cammie had started to stir in his lap, scrunching her nose like she was smelling the food above her. Her hands came up to rub her eyes, wiping away the sleep and waking her up.
"Are those waffles?" she asked, pointing towards his plate.
"As a matter of fact they are, I got them for you myself," Zach said, puffing his chest out a bit.
"That's a lie Cam, he made me get up and carry TWO plates over here. And you know how delicate I am!" Grant said to her, shooting a dirty look at Zach. He just rolled his eyes in response.
"Grant, you are my knight in shining armor," Cammie smiled, and grabbed the two waffles off Zach's plate.
"What am I? The joker?" Zach asked, mock hurt displayed on his face. She reached up to cup his chin.
"Yes. Glad you know your place," she said giggling. Zach just sighed and started to sulk. "Only joking," Cammie added, smiling at him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. But right after she sent a wink to Grant, forcing him to stifle a laugh for. Cammie continued to eat breakfast, since P&E was coming up. It would use a lot of energy and she didn't want to be tired. They finished breakfast, mindless chatter passing between the eight friends. The morning bell signaled the ten minute walking period before the first class of the day. Everyone got up from the table, clearing away their trash and grabbing the bags from the floor. Zach got up from the table, holding out his hand for Cammie to grab. She took it, stretching out her legs and starting to walk. The hallways were crowded with passing students, each heading to their separate classes. Zach walked out of the corridor, heading towards the gym. Once he reached the locker rooms, he turned to Cammie and whispered in her ear.
"Don't forget to put on those shorts you always wear," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She slapped his shoulder.
"You are disgusting," Cammie said, laughing as she walked into the change rooms. Bex followed her to their lockers, making small talk about the upcoming winter break. Somehow, Thanksgiving had already passed. It didn't seem very celebrated at Blackthorne. But regardless, the D.C. mission had been scheduled then, so Cammie got to spend it with her best friends. They would have finals in all the classes, and break would start December 15th, with school resuming January 5th. Macey handed each of the girls a set of workout clothes, with differing colors. Cammie's were electric blue with white detailing, and Lulu shorts. Everyone else looked about the same.
"Macey, what do you think we're doing today since it's a relaxed version of P&E?" Bex asked, trying to tie her hair up in a ponytail.
"Well, I saw Sarge take out the volleyball nets, so I'm assuming something around that. Good thing we've played before, but I have no clue how teams will work. So start hoping your arms won't hurt as bad from balls' impact. And ladies?" she said, snapping her fingers to get everyone's attention. "Let's show these boys how to play volleyball," Macey said, walking through the door and hitting the frame. As soon as they walked out, Zach motioned for Cammie to sit by him, to which Cammie obliged.
"Do you know what we're doing today Gallagher Girl?" he asked, nudging her with his elbow. Cammie nodded, a small smile showing up on her face. "Well are you going to tell me?" he asked, turning her head so that she looked into his eyes. She shook her head, the smile soon becoming a smirk.
"You're just going to have to wait and find out," Cammie said, throwing him a wink. The teacher had begun to explain that there was no sparring today, and that the class time was going to be spent playing a game for a week as the P&E style winter break. He motioned for the students to stand up, and began to sort them out by giving each a number from 1-4. Zach did some quick mental math, and tried to place himself so that he would be on Cammie's team. But she caught onto him, and gave him a death glare.
"I just want to be on the same team as you Gallagher Girl," Zach said, making an adorable frowny face. Cammie visibly softened a little, but a glance over Zach's shoulder showed Macey mouthing, 'No Mercy', with a slashing motion. Cammie's eyebrows furrowed, and she nodded slightly.
"I know you do, but think of it like this. Winner gets to ask something of the other! Think that'll make you feel better?" Cammie said, brushing hair out of her face. After mentioning something of a bet, Zach got a glint in his eye that Cammie hadn't seen before. It was slightly worrying.
"That sounds just fine Gallagher Girl, but just remember when I win, I won't rub it in. Or, I'll try not too at least," Zach said, winking at her then walking over to his team. Cammie jogged over to Macy, Bex, and Liz, who had all been placed together. As they discussed who would be serving, and the various positions, Sarge blew his whistle, signaling a minute until the games started.
"Ok, Cammie will be second to serve, so she'll hit outside. Liz, you're our best setter, so go to that spot. Bex, you're libero, and I'll cover the back with Anna and Elena, who's going to serve first. Break!" Macey said, and walked to her position. Naturally, the team they were assigned against was Zach, Grant, Jonas, Preston, and two other Blackthorne students. Zach smirked at Cammie, running a hand through his hair. He also flashed her a 'W' with his hands, pointing at himself. She rolled her eyes, and got into position. Elena warmed up her arm, doing a few test bounces. Two seconds later, a powerful serve was sent over the net, sending the teams into action. A volley went on and on, until Liz managed to hit the ball down into the boys' side of the court. Everyone clapped, and then resumed play. It was Cammie's turn to serve, and she did her usual serve routine. She spun the ball, hit it a few times, then took a deep breath. The ball was thrown in the air, with Cammie jumping up to meet it halfway. It soared across the net, landing on the other sides' floor without a single hit. All the girls ran to the center, chanting 'ACE', and then walked back to their positions. Cammie set up for her second serve, doing the same ritual. This time, Zach managed to bump the ball up into the air, allowing Preston to set it, with Grant coming in to hit it down. Macey blocked the shot, hitting it back over unexpectedly, catching Grant by surprise. Yet another point was awarded to the girls. A few more rounds happened, points only going to the girls' side to the scoreboard. It was soon the second set, and the girls were winning by twenty-four. It was match point, the last point before they won. The boys had the ball, and Grant was serving. He hit it hard over the net, causing Macey to dive for the ball. She managed to hit it up, sending a somewhat clean pass over to Liz. Liz set it in the direction of Cammie, who had started her run up to the net. Cammie slapped the ball with all her might, sending it hard over the net, and right onto the floor.
"YES CAM!" Macey yelled, running over to hug her. "That was so good!" she exclaimed, high-fiving her.
"Thanks Mace, but it was a team effort. I'm just glad we got to bruise their egos a bit," Cammie laughed, patting Bex on the back. "The only bad thing is that we're going to have to explain to them why we're so good," she said, pushing loose strands of hair off her face.
"That can wait until after we shower," Liz said. "I don't know about you guys, but that game was a bit of a workout even though we creamed them."
"I agree Lizzie, come on guys, let's go," Bex said, leading the way to the girls' locker room. Cammie turned to follow shooting a glance behind her quickly. She saw Zach look at her, and mouth the words, 'How did you do that?'. She giggled, and winked at him, turning back to go run after Bex. After showering and getting back in her uniform, Cammie waited for Macey to be finished. A brisk wind had managed to sneak its way into the school, causing Cammie to pull out Zach's sweatshirt. She put it on, inhaling his scent left on the clothing. Macey finally finished, walking over to Cammie with Liz and Bex in tow, who were talking about the free period coming up.
"Cam, Zach's gonna be all over you once he realizes that's his sweatshirt. You know that right?" Bex asked, poking Cammie's chest and smiling.
"I know, but it's so warm," Cammie said, nestling further into the warm folds of the jacket. Bex laughed, grabbing Cammie's hand and pulling her out of the locker room. As usual, the boys were waiting for them, leaned up against the adjacent wall. Zach looked up as soon as Cammie walked in, a smirk on his face as he took in what she was wearing.
"I look good on you Gallagher Girl," he said, walking over to put his arm around her shoulders.
"Ewww, I don't want to see your PDA," Bex said, fast-walking away from the couple. Cammie's face went red, Zach letting out a laugh.
"Rebecca!" Cammie exclaimed, shooting her a death glare. Bex just smirked back, pointing finger guns at her. Cammie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what do you guys want to do during our free period?" she asked, turning to Liz.
"Jonas and I had some extra credit to work on, so we were going to do that. I think Macey and Preston had to go do something relating to politics, and then Bex and Grant were studying. So it looks like you two are on your own," Liz said, speaking quickly.
"Well in that case, we're going to go hang out," Zach said in response, steering Cammie away from the hallway. She quickly waved goodbye, then turned back to Zach.
"What exactly are we doing?" she asked, intertwining her hand with his as they walked.
"Remember when we went to the library and you said you would read to me? Can we do that again?" he said, turning to look at her.
"Yes, of course. Are we still reading Harry Potter?" Cammie asked, walking in the direction of the passageway that led to the room. Zach nodded his head, reaching his other arm up to move some of her hair out of her face.
"Did I mention that I look good on you?" Zach said, tracing his thumb across her cheekbone, looking down. She smiled, reaching her arms up to embrace around his neck. Her fingers started to play with the hair at the base of his neck.
"I think you did, but it never gets old," she said, pushing up on her tip-toes to press a kiss to his lips. He responded eagerly, moving his free hand to cup her jaw. Her heart rate sped up, just like it always did whenever Zach kissed her. He broke off his lips, tilting his head down.
"You're so beautiful Cam," he said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Now come on, I want to go read," he said, starting to walk towards the lever embedded in the wall.
Zach moved it ever so slightly, causing it to shift open silently. Cammie closed it after walking in, heading down the short corridor to the open spaced room. It was colder inside the room than the rest of the buildings, seemly due to the thick stone walls it was enclosed in. The massive window covering the opposing wall was laced with slight frost, an indication of the freezing winter to come. Zach had already gotten some blankets from the small storage closet underneath one of the beams. After throwing those on the couch, he grabbed some water from the small fridge left over from the last time they stayed in the room. Cammie found the seven books still stacked up on the floor, the first one being dog-eared in different pages from the previous reading attempts. She propped up the excess throw pillows, making a comfortable resting place for her hard against the hard frame of the couch. Readjusting her school skirt, she lay down against the soft fabric, pushing back so she was propped up. Cammie pulled her hair up into a twisty hair style, clipping it in place with a claw clip from her bag. Finally, Zach had grabbed whatever snacks he had found for them in the small drawers in the kitchenette space of the room. He brought them over, placing them on the floor and then took off his shoes. Zach tensed his legs as if he was about to jump onto Cammie, and then refrained a the last minute and just squished her instead.
"So instead of jumping on me you decide to suffocate me?" Cammie wheezed, trying to move his muscular body off of hers. She felt him nod his head against her side, a slight shake of his chest indicating a laugh. "I'll take that as a yes." He lifted his head up, looking at her with a smirk.
"But I thought you liked it when I'm on you," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Her face pinked up immediately, and no less than 1.87 seconds later did he feel a hard smack against his arm. "OOOOWWWwWwww Cammie!" he exclaimed rubbing his arm with his free hand.
"You deserve it," Cammie responded. "Now get comfortable or I'm not reading," she finished, looking down at his face. "Puppy dog eyes don't work on me Zachary. Even if they're your eyes." Zach just huffed, and fixed himself so that he was laying in between her legs, with his head resting on her upper stomach, but not before he laid a blanket on the duo. Cammie lifted her back so that he could wrap his hands around her waist. "All done?" she asked him, starting to open the book.
Zach nodded his head, his fingers fidgeting with the material of her shirt while she found their page. Cammie began to read, the softness of her voice filling the stone room. It seemed as though it even made the brick walls warmer. Just like the last reading session, Zach only lasted a few chapters before falling asleep on Cammie. He had been tracing slight objects and designs on the sliver of skin exposed when her jacket had ridden up, when it had suddenly still. She had looked down to find him dead asleep, his lashes fluttering.
How come boys always get the longest natural lashes, Cammie thought.
She folded the page, marking the spot. After putting it down on the floor, she sent a quick message to Macey letting her know where Zach was. Cammie set the device aside, and slid down the couch to get more comfortable. Zach's head was moved up to the nook of her neck, his nose perfectly in line with her jaw. She wrapped her hands around his back, moving them up and down. A soft kiss was pressed to his forehead, and then the second one fell asleep.