Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Once again I, sadly, did not write the original Gallagher Academy series. Anything you
recognise belongs to Ally carter. The rest belongs to ME.
Joe POV
Everything was ready. Gallagher was about to face it's biggest challenge yet, and the sophomore class I teach was going to be the first to experience it. I extracted my eight Covert Operations girls from their History of Espionage class and led them to the helicopter that was going to take us to our destination. Take these girls to a new phase in their lives. An hour later their task had started. They had to find and evade their tails. This mission served two purposes. The first one was to introduce the Gallagher girls to the Blackthorne boys and the second was to see what level Liliana was at compared to the girls that were to become her new classmates.
Archer POV
I finally saw her, sitting alone on a bench next to the long grassy promenade. The waist length straight blonde hair was a major give away as to who she was. She looked exactly the same as the photo. I could hear through my comms device that all the other girls were in pairs. Why was this girl all alone and why was she just sitting their reading a book? She looked up, silently I panicked. Had she seen me or did she think that I was just a normal boy. That was my first reaction when I saw her. Slowly she put the book away only to pull out a nail file and begin to give herself a manicure. What was she doing? Did she really not care that she was on a field op? Or did she think that the tails would all be adults. Maybe she was just trying to psyche me out, because if she was it was beginning to work. After ten minutes she decided that she was finished with her nails. As she put the nail file away she looked at her surroundings. Quickly she stood up and walked away.
Liliana POV
I looked up and there he was. Waiting on the other side of the promenade trying to look casual. He was confused. He didn't understand why I was doing nothing. By doing nothing I could easily tell who was following me. Sitting in the bench meant that my tail was not able to hide as easily in the crowds, he had to stop and wait so that he didn't lose me. Once mixed into the crowd this game became much harder for him. My height made it hard for him to follow. My height was my biggest advantage. Being just over 5 feet tall (153cm to be exact) made it easy to lose myself in the crowds. Ducking into shops as I passed them let me know that my tail was now following the wrong short blonde girl. He did not see to have realised it yet. Now that I was free I was able to continue on my original plan, operation Scare the Living Daylights out of Gallagher Academy or SLDGA for short. I was able to find most of what I needed at Macy's but had to find a couple of more sketchy shops.
Public toilets are the perfect place to give yourself a makeover. No one takes any notice to the girl who is changing into a new set of clothes that are quite different to the set she was wearing when she entered. Nor do the care then she starts pinning very real looking coloured streaks into her hair. As I was exiting the bathroom I saw the boy who was tailing me earlier walk past looking slightly frustrated. I guess he realised that he was tailing the wrong girl.
Archer POV
How embarrassing is this. I had been tailing the wrong girl for the past hour and a half. The boys are never going to let live this one down. I pulled out the photo that I had been given. This was defiantly the girl I was watching at the promenade. I looked at the information that was written on the back: Liliana Cameron aka Vapour. The name made sense and now I could understand how easily she lost me now. Now I had to start from the beginning. I had to search the entire mall again for her and I only had until 5pm to do it. It was already 3pm. I had much to do.
Liliana POV
I knew I had to be careful now. I had two and a half hours to kill. It was time to hide; the time for running was over. To make sure I wasn't found I spent my next two hours tailing him to make sure that he didn't find me before arriving at the meeting place.
Joe POV
I watched her enter the exhibit. It was 4:30pm, she was half an hour early and had no tail. In fact it seems that she was actually tailing him. "Sit," I told her, "and stay." She was not what I was expecting and she looked nothing like the photo that I had given to the Blackthorne Institution yesterday, which was given to me by her old school and taken over six months ago. The shape of her face was the same and if she didn't have a three inch heel on her boots she would be the right height but everything else was different. Her long blonde hair was still waist length but it was now filled with coloured streaks that were all various lengths. Her face would match the photo if it wasn't now filled with piercings. There were two on her bottom lip and one on her nose. They had to have been there a while because there was no redness or infections. How could she have even gotten them done? One she was only 15 and two she was scared of needles. I ignored all this for now but Rachel wasn't going to. My priority was to make sure she didn't run away. Again.
Liliana POV
It worked. The look on his face was priceless. Why was he not saying anything? Did he think it would scare me or was he letting it build? Then I remembered Aunt Rachel. There was going to be hell to pay when I arrived at the school. But it was ok, once it had attracted the desired effect I would get rid of it. It was all fake anyway. As the girls started arriving they were sent over to the waiting van. All but one looked disgruntled. I decided that I was bored and wanted to go and do something so I started to get up. "Miss Cameron, I thought I told you to stay sitting. I will get to you later." Joe Solomon practically growled at me. This is what attracted the attention of the girls in the van. Once all eight girls had arrived Solomon guided me over to the van with all the girls waiting in it. "Ladies," he started, "I would like to introduce you to your newest classmate. This is Liliana Cameron." They all looked at me with the same shocked face. It was almost like they had never seen streaks or piercings before. Silently I sat down and pulled out my book again.
Bex POV
We were all sitting in the van shocked. There were a few good reasons for this shock. One: Anna Fetterman was the only person to pass today's task. ANNA FETTERMAN! Two: everyone had just found out that there was a spy school for boys. Then Mr Solomon walked over to the van towing this freak in his wake with a firm hand on her shoulder as if she was going to run away. "Ladies," he said when he reached us, "I would like to introduce you to your newest classmate. This is Liliana Cameron." I looked at Cam who was sitting next to me; first we shared the same look of shock as the rest of our class until it dawned on both of us. This is what the fifth bed was for. She was going to be in our room. That would be fine if she didn't look like a freak. She walks to the van wearing suede black knee high boots with a three inch wedge heel. A black denim mini skirt with white tights and a Black tube top which came to just above the hem of the skirt, which showed about a quarter of an inch of skin. The outfit was finished off with a white cropped denim jacket which came to the bottom of her ribs. This is an outfit that could even make Macey jealous; it would have looked even nicer if she didn't seem so angry. It was obvious that she didn't want to be here. She didn't even greet any of us. She just sat in a corner and pulled out a book. It was a long and quiet trip home.
Rachel POV
Shock. It was written all over my face. She could see it to, the outfit had gotten the desired response and she knew it. Streaks, piercings, heels. What was she thinking and who in their right mind would pierce the face of a 15yr old? "Welcome to Gallagher Academy Liliana. I know that you would prefer to be back at your old school but we need you to understand that this is better for you. At least for now." I looked at her as I said this. No emotions appeared on her face while I was speaking to her. It was almost like she was ignoring me. According to Joe she did not say a word to anyone on the trip home, nor did she say anything as he escorted her up here. After I had given her the school history speech I showed her to the bathroom where there was a uniform laid out for her. "It should fit you," I told her as she walked in. Once she was dressed Cammie lead her down to the dining hall.
Liliana POV
I can't believe that I have to wear this uniform. It is even worse than the St Gabe's uniform. At least my old uniform was slightly flattering. It seems Aunt Rachel still knows me well and silenced me with a very hard glare before I was able to even mutter a word. The walk to the 'Grand Hall' or what I call an oversized dining room felt like one of the longest and most awkward walks I had ever taken. It didn't help that Cammie was trying to make irritating small talk the whole way. Didn't she notice that I did not want to be there or was the hair and face not enough of a hint. About half way there I got annoyed with her persistent chatter, "Shut up and get this through your fat head. I do not want to be here, I want to go home. You may be my older cousin but that does not mean that I have to talk to you or even like you at the moment. You are one of them!" With that I turned on my heel and walked off in the other direction. I wasn't hungry anyway.
As I was walking I felt my anger building. They had no right to bring me here. I need to find somewhere to vent. Back at St. Gabe's I always had Emma and Kiara who helped me keep my temper under control. Here I had to find a new calming spot. After an hour of searching the castle I had found my spot. A passageway hidden behind a tapestry which portrayed Gillian Gallagher shaking hands with the President that she saved the life of held a set of stairs that lead to the roof. That is where I am now. Watching the stars always does wonders for calming someone down.
After I had been sitting there for about half an hour I could hear people calling my name. I could even see them searching the grounds. I decided that it was probably time for me to head back into the building and find out where my room is. Waiting until there was no one outside the tapestry I exited and headed back towards the headmistresses office to wait.
Rachel POV
An hour of searching and I return to my office to fine Liliana sitting there reading a book. Too tired to ask her about where she had been I just motioned for her to follow me so that I could bring her to her new room. "Girls as you know you have a new classmate. This is Liliana Cameron. Lily," "It's Anna, not Lily," Liliana interrupted. "Ok, Anna. This is Rebecca, Elizabeth, Macey and I'm sure you remember Cameron. These girls will be your new roommates."
Liliana POV
Roommates, as in plural? What ever happened to the privacy of your own room? This school sucks. "What are you staring at?" I snap at my new roommates. Wow I really have to get out of this place.
"Err. Nothing," one of them replied. "How about we do these introductions properly? My name is Liz, this is Macey," she continues while pointing to the girl that could probably be a model or a supermodel. Why do all these people have to be so god dam tall? "The girl who just walked into the bathroom is Bex, don't call her Rebecca unless you have a death wish, and you seem to already know Cammie. Well this is your bed and all your stuff is in the suitcase under it. Oh, and Headmistress Morgan has put some uniforms in the closet over there for you. Well, good night." Maybe tomorrow will be better.
AN:
Please review, all comments and constructive criticism is welcomed by me!
Just letting you know I am also an Australian Writer so the spellings of some words are correct for me.
