"What?" Zach asked me blankly, a look of shock in his eyes.
"I dated him after you," I said quickly and quietly, suddenly feeling awkward about it. Zach furrowed his brow and turned away from me.
Just that moment, the door to the room burst open. Three men dressed in black outfits came in. "Zach!" I yelled. We turned to face the men who were advancing on us. They must have been part of the organization and knew there were intruders. I deflected a punch one of them threw at me.
"Who," Zach said, pausing to kick one of the men, "is John Wilden?"
"He was a spy," I grunted as one of the taller of the guys hit me in the stomach. I flipped around and kicked him in the thigh.
Zach and I continued punching and kicking the men. "How did you get a boyfriend after me?" he asked, sounding slightly out of breath.
"I'm not a complete," I started, but one of the men hit me in the jaw. I quickly retaliated and punched their neck. "…troll," I finished as I stared at the man who had attacked me defiantly.
"Cammie, how long after we broke up did you start dating him?" Zach asked me, glancing in my direction, but quickly turning back to the two men ganging up on him as they approached.
"I don't know, maybe one year?" I asked skeptically, dodging a punch aimed for my head and flipping the man over my head. I kicked him in the head, hard, as he lay on the ground, knocking him unconscious. I turned to where Zach stood, facing off with two men. Both were bigger than the guy I had just knocked unconscious.
One of the men noticed me standing there and pulled out a knife, grinning evilly at me just like the Russian man had.
He pulled back his arm and just as he was beginning to pull it back, I heard someone cry out from where Zach was. I turned my head (I know – the stupidest thing I could do as a spy) and saw the man Zach was fighting crumple to the floor unconscious.
My mind zoomed back to my own fight and in alarm I saw the knife flying toward my chest too fast and too close for me to stop him. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the pain but none came.
My eyes popped open and Zach stood there, panting, and the guy with the knife was lying on the ground just like the other two.
"Thanks," I breathed, looking at him in surprise.
"We have to get out of here," he said urgently. An alarm went off outside in the hallway.
Zach and I rushed out and quickly went down the stairs. When we got to the first floor, we ran to the ballroom entrance just as four more men appeared in the same uniforms, chasing us.
We burst into the magnificent room and pushed through everyone as fast as we could. I glanced back just as we reached the exit and the men were struggling to get through the tight crowd.
Just in time, Zach and I burst out of the building, hailing the first taxi we saw. We both got in, breathing heavily. I checked my watch. It was ten thirty four at night.
I leaned back in the chair and let my mind wander back to the list I had seen.
John Wilden and I had been assigned an out-of-CIA mission together (a very easy one) and as soon as we returned we began dating. We went on many out-of-CIA missions after that together. He had been so handsome – his dark brown hair always looked windswept and fell at the perfect length and his light blue eyes could pierce right through you. His gorgeous smile could just make you melt.
I closed my eyes. We hadn't really broken up but he had gone on a mission once. I had waited for him for six months – just like Zach, only John's mission had been an estimated one-month long – until he was declared MIA. I had just accepted he wasn't returning.
…which is why I was so surprised to see his name. Not only was he out there, but he was working for the organization Zach and I were trying to bring down.
I looked over at Zach, who was looking out his window with an angry look on his face. What was he thinking about?
The cab driver pulled up silently to our hotel and Zach and I got out. When we got in the room, I became aware of the fact my cheek was bleeding where the Russian man had cut me and I couldn't put any weight on my shin where he had kicked me.
"Zach, do we have a first-aid kit?" I asked.
Zach nodded and retrieved it from his suitcase. He sat down next to me at the couch and had a steely expression on his face.
"Can you clean the cut on my face? I can't see it," I told him.
He nodded and began working on my cheek. "So, fancy seeing John Wilden's name on that list," he said, applying some medicinal alcohol.
"Zach," I said flatly. He pulled out some Neosporin.
"Why did you go out with him?" Zach asked, focusing intensely on my cheek as if trying not to look at me. He pulled a piece of cotton from the bag and a white tape.
"I don't know, I liked him?" I answered. "I don't know why you're so bothered."
"I'm not bothered by it!" Zach said, but the hard edge in his voice made me skeptical. He taped the cotton on my cheek and put a large Band-Aid on over top.
"Okay then," I muttered. Zach continued looking angry as he leaned back onto the couch.
He cleared his throat. "Did you and…John…er, sleep together?" he asked me.
"Zach!" I exclaimed, feeling slightly pissed at Zach. He cheated on me, why should he even care about me? He obviously didn't when we were dating! "How is that any of your business?"
"I lost you your virginity," Zach said matter-of-factly.
I looked at him angrily. "Zach, just shut up."
"I want to know if I'm still the only one!" he said defensively.
I stood up. "You're disgusting. Zach, why do you even care? It's not like I'm the only one. You've played so many girls before. I didn't even mean anything to you!"
Now he stood up. "Yes, you did," he said quietly.
"Oh, really?" I snapped. "Then tell me, how many other girls have you said meant something to you? I really thought you were the one, Zach! But you cheated on me and I was never anything to you but just another girl to break," I said bitterly.
"Cammie, I didn't even cheat on you!" he said, sounding angry. I turned and began walking toward the staircase. "You never let me even explain myself!"
I paused and whipped around to face him. "That's because I honestly don't want you lying to me anymore!" I snapped.
"You don't even know I was lying!" he said back, glaring at me harshly.
"I know what a hickey looks like and I know how other girls look at you, Zach," I said dismissively.
"I didn't care how they looked at me when I was with you, Cammie, you know that," he said.
"Exactly – I wasn't with you when you went on your mission so you did care because there was no Cammie there to make you feel guilty. I trusted you, Zach…I honestly had thought you cared about me too, that I was different from the other girls. I should've known better," I said, looking at my feet.
"You obviously weren't that hurt if you dated John," he said, looking and sounding childish.
I raised an eyebrow. "And John has something to do with this because…?"
"You should stop acting like I've hurt you so badly and been so mean to you because A, I didn't even do anything, and B, you went to John right after me. Maybe I didn't mean anything to you," he said.
"Don't put this on me! You had your chance and you blew it," I snapped. I thought for a moment. "And…are you jealous of John, perhaps?"
Zach looked at me as if I had just suggested the most ridiculous thing in the world. "I'm not jealous of some loser you dated after me!"
"Zach, just shut up," I said. "You're such a jerk." I turned to walk away.
"Wait," he called. I turned around, expecting an apology or something. "Can you at least answer my question from before? Did you sleep with him?"
Seriously? That's what he cared about most? I rolled my eyes. "Yes, now can you stop bothering me?"
Zach let out a little yell of shock. "You're joking, right?"
"No," I snapped. "I'm going to take a shower now."
As I turned to leave, I heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "I bet John would love you join you."
Ooohhhhh, more drama! Is Zach jealous? Who is John, and will Cammie have to face him later? Will the group of terrorists that's trying to take down the CIA be able to track Zach and Cammie down now that they know who they look like and know that Cammie knows John (just thought of that now!)?
Well, first I want to say sorry that it's suuuuch a short chapter, and I know I said no short chapters, but it took me a while to write this. I'm kind of experiencing some writer's block right now... now that they're done with the ball and stuff I don't know what else they could do for spy-work and how I want their relationship to move along. I'm tired of Cammie and Zach arguing (I'm a true Zammie-lover at heart) but Cammie can't forgive Zach yet! I don't know when I should have Zach explain his story. I don't want them to make up too soon and be boyfriend-girlfriend happy toooooo early because then the rest of the story would be like, "Ew. No." because there'd be no drama and just spy-work and mission stuff which can get boring!
-Sooo, if you read that whole paragraph ^^^ I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your suggestions/ideas for the next chapter!
Second, I have sooo many reviewers I'd like to thank who helped give me these ideas and made me feel better about my writing. Seriously, when I read these reviews, for every single one I broke out into a smile in front of my computer and my brother looked at me like I was retarded or something... but seriously you guys are great!
I wanna thank blubrryblu because your review(s) have been so nice and encouraging! Megatron13 because your review was SO sweet and literally made me smile and say "Awww!" because it was so nice and it had great ideas in it (that I intend on using at one point in some way or another, so you'll definitely get a shout-out when I do)... and also I wanna thank my anonymous reviewer for encouraging reviews and great ideas! Also... annam645 because your review had a great idea, I'll probably end up using that too! I love my drama between Cammie and Zach :) XxCandyygirlxX, your review was so nice and I agree, I LOVE drama! Haha anddd... PheoNox, Hungergamesfan654877, and XOXOKISSKISS for encouraging reviews that made me feel better about my writing!
Okay, sorry, I feel like a loser because I listed like all the people that reviewed... But I just wanna let you know I love all your reviews and you guys are so sweet and I'm so happy you're reading my story! I'll continue updating as soon as I know where I wanna go for my next chapter. Sorry that this chapter was short and probably pretty bad, but Zach and Cammie drama is so fun for me! Just know, they'll get together in the end, some way, some how :)
Next Chapter: No idea. I'm so sorry :( Review with any ideas! Or Inbox me!
Okay that's it. No Fun Fact today because I have a big exam to study for and I'm such a procrastinator for anything that isn't fun!
And I'm also sorry that this Author's Note is probably longer than this whole chapter. :( But thanks for reading, I'll update ASAP!