Chapter One
Cammie's POV:
The morning is still etched into my mind. I believe it always will be. It was a cool, crisp day. The sun was out, but there was a strong wind and almost all the trees were bare. It was mid November, two years after I graduated from the Gallagher Academy. After one year living in the dorms of Georgetown University, I decided that right when I could afford it, I'd be getting my own place. And that's exactly what I did. I bought a cute little apartment only three blocks from the start of campus. No more sharing the bathroom or late night fire drills. But I today, my little apartment wasn't feeling cozy or calm at all. Macey, Liz, Bex and I all sat on the living room floor even though the couch and two chairs were both sitting empty right beside us. My floor length curtains were drawn open, letting the light spill into the living room and attached kitchen. Shadows of trees and bushes danced on the floors and walls. But the four of us girls were as still as statues and as quiet as them too.
"How long has it been?" my voice was hoarse as I turned my head slightly and asked Liz.
"Three minutes." She almost whispered.
"Cam, it'll be fine." Bex locked eyes with me and I saw the confidence in her gaze. I just didn't feel it. As spies, we are trained to lie when we need to. Bex could completely be lying to me. Of course she was my best friend so she would try her best not to, but she might have had to, just to keep me from going insane. But the truth was, I was already going insane. My mind was spinning and my palms were sweaty. But that could've just been from how sick I had been lately.
"How long, Liz?" I breathed.
"It's done." She bit her lip. I sucked in a large breath of air and let it out as I stood up slowly. I wobbled a bit on my feet and Bex stood up to hold my arm.
"Just go look." Macey's voice was serious, emotionless, and commanding. "You can't postpone this." So I left the girls in the living room and felt my legs lead me down the hall and to the bathroom. The door was closed. I didn't want to open it. I wanted to turn around, grab my things, move out and never open that door, never look at that door again. But I couldn't break nature's hold on me. My hand reached out and turned the knob. The door creaked open and I scanned the surroundings. Everything looked foreign. As a spy, I knew when something looked out of place, or didn't feel right. Silent alarms were going off in my brain right now, telling me that something wasn't quite normal. Then again, with me, nothing ever really is normal. But this was a different kind of abnormal. Then I spotted the small stick on the bathroom counter. It was in a small spot that had been cleared of all my cosmetics (that I never used) or my lotions, scrubs, towels, and mouth care products.
"Just look at it." I told myself. "You can handle it. You've taken bullets before. You've saved the life of a queen. You stopped World War 3. And you can't look at a little stick?" I was taunting myself. Daring myself to go and look at my fate. And before I could doubt again, I raced forward and snatched the stick into my hands. All delicacy that I had been handling it with previously was gone. I ripped my hands away and let my eyes rest on the little symbol that had appeared on the stick. It hadn't been there fifteen minutes ago when I had first opened the box. I stopped breathing.
"Cammie?" I heard Liz's voice calling. "What does it say?" I heard footsteps coming down the hall and then the girls were standing in the bathroom door, facing me like I was about to start preaching to them.
"Well?" Macey gestured for me to say something.
"Zach," I held out the pregnancy test with the little pink plus sign on it, "is going to kill me."