"I'm sorry," I muttered pathetically. What else could I say to him? I turned and left the room. I left the dorms and began wandering the grounds. There was a walkway that circled the dorms. I stepped onto the path and began following it. I fell deep into thought. I thought about the upcoming test. Would both Alex and I come out alive? Was Rothman devising a plan to get Alex and me killed? And whatever happened to that preliminary test? My mind wandered back to the day last week when Alex and I were snatched off the street and nearly killed. I wondered how Alex had survived. I never bothered to ask because I was just glad that he was alive. Suddenly, a thought hit me – everything I thought about somehow related to Alex. I shook my head. I was being stupid. Alex was involved with everything that had happened. That's how he was related to my thoughts. There was nothing between us. We were just friends.

Then I remembered the hurt look on Alex's face when I told him that he's just a friend to me. I thought he would understand. I sighed. I guess I shouldn't have said that to him. He must be so upset. I realized my mistake too late. I thought that if I kept leading him on, eventually, he'd have to deal with the fact that I don't love him. It would hurt him so much. In trying to protect Alex from that pain, I broke his heart. Thinking about it made me sad. I didn't want his heart to be broken, especially when I was the one who broke it. All of a sudden, I felt terrible.

My cell phone rang and interrupted my thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Camryn, it's Smithers. Do you have a moment?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"First of all, how's the mission going?"

"It's going well so far."

"Good, good. How's the 'relationship' with Alex?"

"It's great," I lied.

"Hm…that's not what Alex tells me."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, Camryn, Alex told me about his feelings for you, but you only see him as a friend. He's upset that you aren't returning his feelings. This could jeopardize the assignment. You really need to get your act together, literally."

"Well, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to lie to Alex and tell him that I do love him?"

"That's exactly what I want you to do."

"I can't. I can't do that to him."

"You have to if you are to succeed. A broken heart is distracting. Do you want Alex to be distracted from the assignment?"

"No, but-"

"It's too late to pull either of you from the mission. You'd better find a way to fix the situation with Alex."

Smithers hung up. I snapped my phone shut and shoved it back into my pocket. The path I was walking on split. I stopped walking and stared at the fork before me. What should I do? Should I leave the situation as is and let it play out? Should I lie to Alex so he wouldn't hurt? Either way, Alex would get hurt sooner or later. Do I let him hurt now, or do I hurt him later? Between the left and right forks, I chose the latter.

After completing a full circle around the dorms, I went back up to my room. I found a note on the bed. It was from Rothman. It read: "There is a formal dinner tonight in the dining hall on the first floor. Please dress appropriately."

I sighed. I hated dressing up. I opened my suitcase and began taking clothes out and putting them in the dresser and closet. I had jeans, T-shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and so on. I wondered if I brought a dress with me. I didn't think I needed one. Finally, at the bottom of my suitcase, I found a dress and a pair of heels. I wonder why I put that in there…Then my phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Cam," Alex said. "Do you know about the formal dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, I just got a note about that."

"Do you have anything to wear?"

"Yeah, do you?"

"No. I didn't think I needed a tuxedo, so I left mine at the suite. Mrs. Rothman said that she'd get one fitted for me though."

"That's good."

"Well, uh…I'll see you later."

"Bye."

I hung up and tossed my phone onto the bed. It was about two in the afternoon, so I had three and a half hours to kill before I had to get ready for dinner. I began setting up a security system in the room. Once I finished, I took out my MP3 player and lost myself to the beat of the music.

It was almost six o' clock. I had just finished showering, drying my hair, and putting on my dress. I drew thin black lines around my eyelids with an eyeliner pencil. I slipped on the heels and rooted through my suitcase for my purse. I took out the opal ring out of the purse and slipped it onto my finger. The ring had been slightly modified. Turning the stone clockwise would send a distress signal to MI6. Turning it counter clockwise would turn the stone into a transmitter to record everything I heard. I put my hair up with bobby pins and looked at myself in the mirror. The black dress came down to the middle of my thighs. God, I didn't know it was this short! Why didn't I buy a longer dress? Finally, I headed out the door. I knocked on Alex's door, wondering if he had left yet. He opened the door.

"Hey, Cam – whoa…" Alex looked me up and down. "Wow, you look… …amazing."

I felt the blush creeping into my face and bit my lip. "Uh, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I was just on my way out," he said. His hair was a mess and his collar was askew.

I had to smile. "Are you sure about that?" I fixed Alex's collar and combed my fingers through his hair. I stepped back to look at him. Jesus Christ, he looked good in a tux! I kissed him on the cheek. "Let's go."

Hand-in-hand, Alex and I walked to the dining hall. The place was crowded with people. A waiter led us to our seats. Rothman stood at the front of the room with a microphone.

"If I can have your attention," she said. The dining hall quieted. "This banquet is dedicated to the new recruits taking the test tomorrow. I wish you all of you good luck. I hope you enjoy your evening."

We ordered our meals and drinks. Most people chatted with each other. Alex and I didn't know anyone. I nervously picked at the silver sequins on my dress and chewed my lip. I was still thinking about what Smithers told me. Did I make the right decision?

"Alex, can I talk to you for a minute?" I blurted out.

"Sure."

We stood up and made our way out of the dining hall. We turned down the corridor toward the lobby.

"I was thinking about a lot of things earlier, and I thought about us."

"Yeah?" There was a hint of hope in Alex's voice.

"What I said earlier, about us being just friends…that's not true. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. You really are more to me than just a friend."

Alex stopped walking and put his hands on my shoulders. It took all my courage to look him in the eye. Those beautiful eyes pierced my heart. Could he see through my deception?

"What kept you from telling me how you really feel about me?" Alex asked me.

"I've never felt this way about anyone, and I was scared," I lied. "I really like you, Alex."

Alex smiled at me. "I know. I was waiting for you to realize your feelings."

Whoa! Wait a minute! Did Alex see something that I didn't? Did he know something that I didn't? What's going on? I must be missing something. I was lost in my sudden confusion that it took me a few seconds to realize that Alex was kissing me again. Dang, why does this boy kiss me so much?! He does it every chance he gets! I mean, doesn't he ever get enough?! Despite my thoughts, I tilted my head and returned his kiss.