A Big Thank You to:

Guest123- I feel you, lol, Thanks for your input!

Smiles180- Me too, I think the story will be less cringe if I don't put Cammie into any major girl drama (she's not the type of person to do that anyway).

bluecheetah8- Thank you so much, good to know I'm literate!

Chad- Whoops *shrugs shoulders innocently* While I do not condone murder, Blackthorne academy sure does (possible foreshadow for the story? maybe?). Do with that what you will!

bad-girls-always-bad- Thank you for continually reviewing my chapters!

Storytime:

"Settle down," Someone pushes Goode and I through the door. "We have a lot of ground to cover today."

Mrs. Olson was the one to break up Josh and I's reunion; I will forever be in her debt. I lift a shoulder with false apology at Josh and head to an empty seat. Too bad I wasn't upfront with my hostile feelings to the two boys because they followed me to a square table composed of four desks. One girl was already there, and she looked entirely too pleased with her self when she saw Josh and Zach coming to her table. Alex was right when she said everyone loved Josh, he was cute- I would know.

I keep my back turned to them and slide into my seat. Josh seats himself next to me and Zach is across. They both try to catch my eye, but it's glued to the presentation being set up. Olson wasn't one to waste time, the first slide to her PowerPoint listed the Do's and Don'ts of her classroom.

"One," She reads off the screen. "Don't talk while I'm talking."

Easy enough.

"Cammie, what are you doing here?" Josh leans over. Did he not hear what our teacher just said? "And who's this?"

"I'm Zach, Cammie's friend," Goode finally gives his name.

"We should probably pay attention," I whisper and try to appear completely focused on whatever Olson moved on to. I could deal with him later.

"I thought you were new to town?" The hopeful look in Zach's eyes make me think there is nothing more in the world he wants more than me to tell him otherwise.

"Cammie and I go way back," Josh glares. What he said was the biggest exaggeration I've ever heard, but Zach had no way of knowing.

Zach seems to relax for some reason, but he's still wound up pretty tight. I could swear I saw him mutter a sigh of relief, but then the agitation comes right back with a jaw twitch when Josh leans into me somewhat.

"You said you were homeschooled," Josh pokes for an answer.

"I was," I don't look away from the screen.

"Three," Olson looks up. When did she go through the second one? "Treat others with respect."

"That doesn't explain why you're here now," Josh appears hurt, I owe him consolation.

"My mom was getting tired of me, Josh" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zach watching us, searching for an opportunity to butt in. "So here I am."

"Oh," Josh nods, not sure how to keep the conversation going- good. "So-"

"Take her advice: eyes up front, Jimmy," Zach leans forward across the table. "We should be learning about respect."

Josh was about to confront the blatant disrespect when a shrill voice beat him to it.

"You three! Move away from each other since you insist on breaking every guideline I am setting up," Mrs. Olson waves a hand as if to disperse us. When will I ever stop owing her?

I grab my bag and head for an open seat closest to the door, in case I need to make a much-needed quick escape. Zach moves to the opposite side of the room, at a table with three other girls, two of which flip their hair flirtatiously, the other rolls her eyes. Maybe some people here did have their head on straight. Josh wanders to a table filled with people eager to welcome them.

It took Mrs. Olson ten minutes to go over what she expected from us. How something so simple as basic human decency could fill that time span is beyond me.

"As you probably don't know," Mrs. Olson sighs like she goes through this every year. "Your summer reading essay on The Great Gatsby will be due tomorrow- it's a summative."

My mouth drops open, she was right: I had no idea I needed to have an essay turned in. Everyone around me looks out of place as they ask the person seating next to them if they knew.

"It is your responsibility to check your parent's email," Olson scolds. That doesn't even make sense!

The class looks at her, full of annoyance. Key word: parent's email. Civilian teachers are crazy, no wonder teenagers go mad.

"I Suggest you grab a copy up front then and get to work," Mrs. Olson points to the pile of books at the front then retreats to her desk, most likely to ignore us for the rest of the period.

Essays were easy for me, but reading a book and coming up with a final draft of an essay to turn in tomorrow could be said to be inhumane. This would be like putting work off till the last minute, and that's not how I work.

The class has already swarmed around the books, I keep a healthy distance back. However, not being trampled comes at a cost.

"So, Cammie," Josh finds his way to my side. "We have a lot of catching up to do, we should be partners."

I think Josh was missing the point of the paper, but I didn't have time to say it.

"Actually, Jimmy, essays aren't group projects," Zach picks up a book and walks away smirking. Maybe Zach wasn't useless after all.

"Sorry, Josh," I frown and pick up a book. "Maybe we could talk another time, what happened that night really is not what you think."

I miss how it was with Josh and me, but I'm smart enough to realize it can never go back to be the way it was. What I can try to do is moving on, no matter how much it hurts.

"I believe you, Cam," Josh smiles. "I would like hanging out with you again."

So would I, but it's illegal.

I make my way back to my desk. Everyone at my table already has a thousand questions they want to ask me, I can see them written on their face.

"Are you the girl that broke up with Josh?" The girl to my left asks while wearing a glare. It doesn't affect me though, it's much tamer than a Gallagher Glare.

"Did you know that every girl hated you while you two were dating?" A guy across raises an eyebrow and laughs. So Josh did talk about me.

"Did you know Dillon stills says Josh isn't over you?" The same girl continues.

"Did you mean to break the most beloved boy at this school's heart?" The other girl at the table folds her arms accusingly.

"I was forced, no, no, and no of course not," Is all I give them, I try to keep to the truth as much as possible.

"What do you mean you were-" I cut the boy off.

"I can't be the only one that needs to read this book and write an essay," I talk some since into them then open to chapter one. The others see the urgence and don't bother me again.

I'm the first out the door when the bell rings. Looking at history, it's only a matter of time till Zach or Josh comes running after me. Props to the designers of this building for putting a bathroom in each hallway though. I sneak myself into one for girls before anyone can find me.

When I walk in, the sight of Macey forcing Liz's head into a forty-five-degree angle is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

"Macey! Liz! You have no idea how happy I am to see you two," I rush over to see the torture Macey is inflicting.

"Cammie! I haven't seen you all- Ow!" Liz tries to face me.

"Don't move, the knotting will get worse," Macey's face scrunches in concentration.

"What happened?" My curiosity grows as I get closer and see a ringlet of Liz's hair interwoven with her earring.

"Our favorite clutz says she moved her head to fast and this occurred," Macey snaps her head to the right in reenactment.

"Oopsy daisy?" Liz shrinks under Macey. "Enough about me, how's your day going?"

I look around the empty bathroom.

"Nothing suspicious so far, I haven't had a single Gallagher Girl in my classes," I watch as Macey slowly works her magic.

"Bex and I have first together," Liz tries to look serious, but the situation she's in doesn't help.

"Eva and I have second," Macey pulls out the last of the hair. "Ta-da!"

"I'm going to Organic Chemistry with Down next, I should go if I want to be on time," I nod my head back to the door.

"Ever heard of being fashionably late?" Macey starts reapplying makeup in the mirror.

Liz gasps, "Not to class! Come on, Cam, that's my next period too."

Finally, someone I know (and like) has a class with me. The amount of people in the hall died down some, offering little coverage from anyone who wanted to confront me. A true pavement artist doesn't need to hide however, I choose to blend in and act like everyone else.

The tried and true does not fail me, and I arrive at class unbothered.

"Have you seen Josh yet?" Liz stares wide-eyed around the lab.

"Hi, I'm Cammie," I fix her mistake, incase anyone is watching. "Nice to meet you."

Liz physically jumps a little and most likely mentally slaps herself.

"I'm Liz, we should sit together," Liz points to a table in the back.

Sitting down she urges me to give her an answer.

"Yes, he's in my second," Liz opens her mouth for more. "And yes, I did talk to him. I'll explain when we're all together."

She nods and pulls out a binder to take notes. This class, even though it just started, is already my favorite. There is no Josh, no Zach, no anyone to stir up drama. Not to mention I aced organic Chemistry in eighth grade.

"Do not tell my superiors that-" A middle-aged woman stands at the front of the class with her hands on her hips. "We will be skipping the Nature of Science unit that the state makes you do every year since fifth grade."

The class cheers and I join them willingly, not just to blend in. Only two people seemed disappointed by the cutting of an educational unit, and one sat next to me. The other is across the aisle. Liz notices too and makes a face of unbelief to the scrawny boy with black hair and wiry glasses. I want to say I am against stereotypes, but this guy was nerd through and through.

"He's cute," I nudge Liz who turns beet red and looks down to scribble something in her notebook. Her first note is a reminder to go over The Nature of Science back at Gallagher. I thought the curriculum here would be an insult to Liz, but she didn't notice how below her it was.

"Grab your books and open up to chapter two: Atoms," Down commands. "We'll go over names later."

Liz and the boy are the first to open their book, no doubt the only ones who care about their education (besides me of course).

"I love atoms," The boy leans over to Liz. "I'm Jonas by the way."

"I'm Liz, I love atoms too," Liz smiles.

What does that even mean? I should have never encouraged her, I thought she would have accounted for the fallout between Josh and I and not start her own tragic love story. Leave it to Liz to forget about how dangerous that facade can be.

"Have you studied Dalton's theory of Atoms?" Jonas askes Liz, completely abandoning chapter two.

"That child's play? I read that stuff for bedtime stories! What's really interesting is Hawking's new-" Liz goes on and on with Jonas, I could follow for the most part, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

The three of us we're done first. As much as it pains me, Jonas is growing on me. For one, he can keep up, and not just keep up, I found myself struggling to comprehend the two when he and Liz talked. Something that revealed itself quite early was how sweet and clumsy he is too. If Liz was normal, they would be a match made in heaven.

Note for later: Ask professor Moskowitz if he ever created advanced clones in the opposite gender.

"The bell will ring any minute, go to lunch next," Ms. Down walked up and down the aisles, observing our progress.

On the dot, the bells goes off. I have to snap my fingers in Liz's face to take her out of the trance Jonas had put her in.

"Class is over, Liz," I tell her.

"Do you want to join a friend and I at lunch? I know you are new," Liz offers politely, while she may be better behind a computer, she sure proves herself in the field.

"I would love that," I accept. The three of us walk out of the class and towards the lunch room.

"I'm going to sit with another girl I just met," Liz looks at Jonas. "You should join so we could uh… talk more about atoms!"

"Sounds great," Jonas blushes as much as Liz. "Can I invite my neighbor? he's new too."

"That's really nice of you, Jonas," I smile more at his kindness. "Of course they're welcome."

"Speak of the devil," Jonas points.

When Jonas said that innocuous phrase, I should have known it would turn itself into something completely opposite.

"Hey, Cammie!" Zach walks up to us. "Fancy seeing you here."

Karma, why hath thou forsaken me?

"Zach," Jonas and Zach do a strange handshake then jesters to Liz and I. "Do you want to join us at lunch?"

Zach smiles at Jonas and Liz, but it morphs into smirk when his eyes find mine.

"I would love that."

"I'm sure you would," I mumble to the ground while rolling my eyes.

Can you guys handle another cliffhanger? Just think: A thirty minute lunch with the gang all together, Zach and Cammie in such close proximity, all while nobody truly knows who the other is. Happy New Years!