I saw Cammie pass the pharmacy and Bex brush pass the coin smoothly to her. I started walking towards her, mainly to ask her why in the world she just walked away when we were doing an assignment together, when a guy stepped in front of Cammie. A guy with wavy brown hair who seemed to recognize her.

"Cammie is that you?" he asked anxiously.

She looked up and so many emotions flew on her face, changing rapidly; fear, happiness, nervous, confusion, and then shy.

"Hey, Cammie, I thought that was you," he breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled at her.

She looked like she wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out.

"Cammie are you okay?" the boy asked her nervously.

I started thinking about whether or not I should go beat up the kid or not. Was he dangerous? How did he know her name? She didn't look afraid at all though, just worried about the situation I guess. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Hi, Josh," she answered.

Josh. I had seen that name before.

Then it hit me, this was the boy she had sneaked out to see. This Josh was the guy that she had risked everything for. I looked him over again, now realizing who he was. He wasn't bad looking, but he seemed so gullible and innocent.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh," she answered nervously now. "It's a school thing."

He recoiled slightly. She grimaced.

"So how have you been?" she asked gently.

"Okay. How about you?" he answered.

"Okay," she answered.

"So we're both okay. Good for us," Josh smiled.

Wow. This was almost too painful to watch. How awkward could this be?

Then a girl with short blonde hair and all dressed in pink came up behind and was rattling on to Josh when she stopped and saw Cammie. The look on Cammie's face showed that she was now even more uncomfortable.

"Oh my goodness, Cammie! It's great to see you!" she squealed.

This blonde chick was a little too happy if you asked me. She had the biggest smile on her face and she looked like a flamingo with all the pink. Then she gazed at the crest on Cammie's uniform, looking disappointed. Apparently civilians didn't care too much about Gallagher Academy. But the girl said nothing and instead hugged Cammie.

"Hi DeeDee. It's really… good… to see you too," she replied.

I didn't need to be a spy to see her discomfort. Cammie stared at Josh and the smiling flamingo for a moment. They kept looking at each other and looking at her. It didn't take a genius to realize that they were going out. They kept glancing at Cammie wondering if she had noticed.

Now even though I don't know Cammie extremely well, I know enough about her to know that she's smart. She could definitely see that they were not just friends. But she continued to smile anyway and I knew that she was just pretending to not notice.

Then Joe got on comms again.

"Okay, Ms. Morgan, let's see you hand off."

I bet she had forgotten that she even was holding the coin. This was not going well. We were on a mission! She was my partner! And here she was standing in front of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend not caring.

The smiling flamingo rambled on about why she and Josh were hanging out, trying not to say that they were going out. It was pretty pathetic. Cammie didn't say a word. She just stood and listened.

I needed to get that coin.

I couldn't be stealthy because that would be kind of obvious right now. I couldn't even depend on Cammie to help me because she was the one that needed saving. I sighed as I strolled over to where she was.

"Cammie, there you are," I said stopping the flamingo's ramblings.

I tried to seem as if I had just been carelessly looking for her. I headed her direction, looked at her and said,

"I was wondering where you'd disappeared to."

Then I turned my gaze to Josh and smiled pleasantly. I may not have a Culture class at my school, but that doesn't mean that I can't pretend to have manners.

"I'm Zach," I said to him and shook his hand.

The flamingo merely glanced at Cammie and me and beamed. Josh stared at me suspiciously, he seemed like he was glaring. Then I almost laughed. He thought that I was dating Cammie! Well, I might as well enjoy this as long as possible. It's not like she was going to blurt out, "By the way we're not dating!"

"Zach, this is DeeDee. And Josh. They're…" she stopped midsentence.

"We're friends of Cammie," DeeDee added quickly.

Cammie continued introductions.

"Zach and I are…" but she stopped midsentence again.

"I go to school with Cammie," I put in smoothly.

"Really? I thought it was an all-girls school," the flamingo questioned.

"Actually, my school's doing an exchange with Gallagher this semester," I told her.

Enough with the pleasantries, it was time to complete the mission. I tried to look casual as I slipped my hand into Cammie's.

"Oh," DeeDee murmured at the sight of our hands intertwined.

"That's really great!" she continued grinning.

Cammie didn't say anything or resist. She just looked up at me and seemed to be observing me.

"Cam, the van's leaving in ten," I told her, trying to give her an excuse out.

"It was nice meeting you," I nodded at Josh and smiling flamingo.

"You too," DeeDee replied enthusiastically.

I smiled politely at them, turned around and went on my way with the quarter.

Mission completed.

Through the comms unit I heard Josh and DeeDee invite Cammie to a party, then DeeDee quickly added, "And bring Zach."

That night I noticed how down Cammie seemed as she moped around the dining hall. She got out of there really fast. I decided to try to talk to her. I followed her quietly, until she got to a long empty hall. She was staring up at the Gallagher family tree, when I decided to say something.

"You know, I don't think I ever got the rest of my tour," I mentioned.

She looked up at me, surprised that I had been following her.

"So what do you say, Gallagher girl?"

I walked up to her and looked behind the tapestry. Sure enough there was a secret passageway. I remembered hearing about how she was an excellent hider, how she knew this school so well. Enough to be able to sneak out and meet a certain guy. I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms.

"Is this when I get my Cammie Morgan no-passageway-too-secret, no-wall-too-high tour?" I asked.

Her eyes widened in alarm.

"How do you know about.."

"Spy," I interrupted, pointing to myself. I would rather remain as mysterious as possible. The less she knew about me, the better for herself.

Cammie glanced around, fully realizing that we were alone. She said nothing but just looked at me.

"So, that was Jimmy?" I asked.

"Josh," she quickly corrected.

"Whatever," I muttered waving away the little detail. "He's a cutie," I said with a smirk.

She glared at me, then rolled her eyes.

"What do you want Zach? If you came to make fun, go ahead. Mock away!" she said in frustration.

I studied her for a while. I fought a smile and replied sadly,

"Man, you know I would… but you just took the fun out of it."

"Sorry," she muttered. Then she quickly spun around and tried to walk away.

I blocked her path before she could move. Her face was so close to mine and I saw the pain in her eyes. She was trying to be strong, I could tell. But, her eyes were getting watery. It betrayed what the event earlier, with Josh, had done to her.

"Hey," I whispered, wishing I could comfort her in some way.

"Why'd you freeze out there today?"

She looked at me for a moment then sighed as she looked down.

"I'm fine. I'm over it," she said.

"No you aren't, Gallagher girl," I replied.

She couldn't fool me.

"But you will be," I vowed.

"What's the matter, Gallagher girl? You seem… jumpy," I said to Cammie.

She acted like the end of the world was coming. I, for my part, wasn't aware of the fact and I was very confused by her manner. We walked into the Culture class and before Gallagher girl could say a word Madame Dabney spoke.

"The all-school exam… ohhh ladies!" she squealed excitedly.

She looked my way and then quickly added "… and gentlemen. In all my years of teaching at this fine institution, I have never had the opportunity to organize such an exciting educational experience."

I listened impatiently, wanting her to get on with it.

"This Friday evening, all students in grades 8-12 will be invited to a formal examination," she paused for dramatic effect.

We all stood waiting for the punch line.

"A ball, ladies and gentlemen. There's going to be a ball!" she exclaimed.

The reactions in the class were striking. I was surprised but not dreading it like I supposed many of the other guys were. Almost all the girls squealed with delight along with Madame Dabney. Our teacher went on talking about what we would wear and why this was actually an examination. I wasn't really paying attention anymore and soon I was dazing off.