Thank you so much guys for your amazing comments :)
I'd especially like to thank Lightning, since I can't message you back and you wrote such sweet things. It made me feel so great and your begging me to update really pushed me to keep writing (along with the others)! I'm so dreadfully sorry for my late update, craziness with the end of the school year.
Just a note, I will be going to live with my Amish friend for 2 weeks, so no electricity. But I will ATTEMPT to update before and I will try to update more throughout the summer.
Thanks guys for being so loyal and for your comments and critiques. If you have any suggestions, critique, or even compliments, I'd love to hear them!
I kept myself away from Cammie for two weeks. Not one teasing comment or wink or smirk. I walked different ways to classes so I wouldn't have to force myself away from walking with her.
Now you might be wondering, why was I trying so hard to avoid her? Well, not to sound like the regular heroic bad boy, but she really does deserve someone better. I couldn't like anyone. I was a lone wolf. But, suddenly, I felt my walls crumbling down when I was around her. I felt the need to protect her and shield her. In my life, I couldn't have that. I didn't want to play with her heart, when I knew that I would only hurt her.
So I tried for two whole weeks to avoid her. To break myself away from her and hopefully she would forget about me. But after two weeks I realized that I couldn't tear myself away. I mean, I tried. Really I did. I've always been able to get up and walk away from anything or anyone. I don't have strings attached. But Gallagher girl was holding me down with a steel cable.
So after two weeks of this I realized that these feelings for Cammie weren't going anywhere. Then, I came to the conclusion that I might as well do it right. So I decided to ask her out, properly.
I felt my cocky self returning when I sat down at my desk to write the note. I had to be casual and play it cool. But, I still actually had to ask her out. Finally, I managed to scribble the following words:
So I hear we get to go to town this weekend. Want to catch a movie or something?
—Z
P.S. That is, if Jimmy doesn't mind.
My message complete, I began wondering how to give it to her. Not in front of her friends or mine, I didn't want to deal with screaming girls or teasing guys. So, alone. And how? Something not dramatic. A brush pass. Smooth, clean, and secretive. Perfect.
The next day I watched her leave the Grand Hall and I casually bumped against her. "Sorry," I mumbled without looking in her eyes. My hand had already gently put the note in her pocket. Then I kept walking, careful to look like nothing had happened.
Saturday morning, the sun was shining through the windows and the day looked bright and cheerful. Unfortunately, I wasn't. For the first time in my life, I was extremely frustrated with my hair. Not that my hair was always perfect, it was just that I had never tried to do anything with it before. But, Joe had informed me that doing my hair in an amazing way was the number one thing to do for a date. And since this was a date, I figured I had to play by the rules.
So I stood there in front of the mirror with gel, attempting to create the perfect hair style that combined mystery, romance, and danger. But, of course it would have to look as natural as possible. It was quite difficult. I mean, I could knock down a group of highly trained agents in less than a minute, brush pass flawlessly, speak over a dozen languages fluently, and so much more, but this all seemed like nothing compared to being able to mess my hair up in all the right places!
Finally, completely annoyed, I angrily ran my fingers through my hair and shook my head. I never played by the rules anyway, why should I start now? But when I glanced at the mirror once more, it was perfect. With a smirk I reminded myself that nothing was too hard for Zachary Goode. Not a date with Cammie and definitely not my hair.
Cammie and I were walking slowly through the streets of Roseville. In silence. I guess it didn't help that there was a huge parade. The whole town was celebrating. My spy training picked up every detail. The old ladies selling brownies and raffle tickets, the marching band, the parents pushing strollers and buying cotton candy for toddlers, the teenagers holding hands down the sidewalk, the stereotypical perfect little town.
Cammie lightly coughed and after a minute she spoke.
"Do you want to do something?" she asked softly.
"We could go to a movie or get something to eat," I answered.
"Okay."
I sounded way too eager. I bit my lip.
"Or we could just… walk," I continued.
"Okay," she repeated.
She wasn't even listening to me. This wasn't how dates were supposed to go right? There should be more talking, more laughing, more fun. I should be smooth and suave and she should be laughing. Not looking down at the ground awkwardly.
"Or we could have the clown over there paint our faces and then go rob the bank," I rambled.
"No way. Last October they installed a Stockholm Series 360—it's take us at least 45 minutes to crack it," she said with a smile.
"Good to know," I laughed.
It felt better to share a laugh, even a small one over something stupid. We kept walking quietly.
Then, suddenly, I had the sudden urge to ask Gallagher girl why she was going on a date with me. I just wanted to tear away the covers that we put up and figure out what the real Cammie thought of me. I liked her. I had figured this out now, but I didn't know if she liked me. Was she just trying to honeypott me? But, it wasn't like me to fall for a honeypott.
I was cool and mysterious. Not wanting desperately to just hold Cammie's hand. Not inwardly agonizing over whether she liked me too.
What was I doing? I glanced over at Cammie to see if she noticed me rambling in my head, but she was in her own world.
I'm Zachary Goode, a top spy. Cool and confident. I don't agonize over these things. I do something about it. So before I could talk myself out of it, I reached for her hand and led her through the crowded sidewalks to somewhere more private.