All throughout class, she didn't once look at me. She actually looked frustrated with herself. But I liked to watch her work. When we took the pop quiz, she looked really concentrated and when the teacher—whose name I learned to be Mr. Smith—was lecturing she actually looked like she was listening.

The few times I looked at Grant and Jonas were interesting. Jonas and his tour guide Liz Sutton were totally engrossed in the Countries of the World lesson. Grant and his tour guide Rebecca Baxter liked looking at each other. They would look at each other, smirk, look away and do it all over again every two minutes.

At the end of class, Gallagher Girl grabbed her stuff and walked out the door, not waiting up for me so that left me to catch up with her.

"So, we meet again," I say as I caught up with her in the hallway, which was packed with girls.

She didn't answer. I tried again.

"So this is the famous Gallagher Academy."

"Yes," she finally said something. I waited for her to continue (if she would. She surprised me at times). "This is the second-floor corridor. Most of our classes are down this hall."

I pretended not to hear her. Oh, I heard her though. It wasn't something that was really important though.

"And you're…the famous Cammie Morgan," I said slowly and waited for her reaction. I had used the name I had heard Bex (Rebecca/Duchess) use for her and I wanted to see how she would react to me saying it.

She stiffened and that look passed her face again. "Come on," she mumbled. "Culture and Assimilation is on the fourth floor."

She turned and started down the hall. I had to walk fast just to keep up with her. I admired her from behind, letting her lead. I hadn't noticed before but she had a nice form. Strong, skinny, toned legs. Curves I knew most girls would die for. A walk that had casualness and grace at the same. But she also had ordinary features to her. I guess that's what made her such a good pavement artist.

Then her words registered with me.

"Who," I stopped. "Did you just say you're taking me to culture class?"

Cammie looked not in any way offended. Instead, she got that expression I noticed she had on a lot when I was around. Annoyed. "Yes."

I grinned. "Boy, when they sat you've got the toughest curriculum in the world…they mean it."

She flexed her jaw (You know, I'm starting to wonder if she knows that she does all this) and glanced at the stairs we were passing. Then she regained her posture and began pushing through the crowds again.

"Culture and Assimilation has been a part of the Gallagher curriculum for more than a hundred years, Zach. A Gallagher Girl can blend into any culture—any environment. Assimilation isn't a matter of social graces," she stopped as we came to the classroom door. "It's matter of life and death."

I almost took her seriously. Really. I almost did. That was, until the teachers voice drifted from inside the room.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we will be studying the art of…the dance!"

I laughed (on the inside) at the expression on Cammie's face. Then I took a chance.

I leaned forward, close to her ear, and whispered, "Yeah…Life. And. Death."

We went into the classroom. Chairs and tables had been pushed aside. There were flowers on the grand piano. The teacher stood alone in the middle of the floor, beneath a crystal chandelier.

"I have been saving this very special class for the arrival of our very special guests," she said.

I smirked and whispered to Gallagher Girl, "Did you hear that? I'm special."

"That's a matter of—" she started to retort back but the teacher interrupted.

"Oh, Cameron dear, would you and your friend like to demonstrate for the rest of the class?"

I swear she blushed scarlet and was probably about to refuse (politely refuse, I should say) but the teacher pulled us into the center of the floor. While Cammie might be feeling a bit wary of dancing with, I was enjoying it way too much. I saw Grant and Jonas out of the side of my eye. They were grinning like fools or, Grant was. Jonas was smiling at me then at Liz then at me then back at Liz.

"You must be Zachary Goode. Welcome to the Gallagher Academy. Now, I must ask that you place your right hand firmly in the center of Cameron's lower back," the teacher instructed. I did as told and felt Gallagher Girl stiffen under my touch. She must not be enjoying it as well as I was.

"Okay, now, everyone find a partner. Yes, girls, some of you will have to take turns being the boy," the teacher instructed. Cammie didn't relax at all.

I saw Jonas and Liz pair. That should be an interesting pair. Jonas was clumsy and from what I could tell, so was Liz. Grant and Bex paired up, of course. They seemed to be a smoother pair.

"Ladies, you will place your right hand firmly in your partner's palm," the teacher said. Cammie did so. I smirked.

"What's the matter, Gallagher Girl?" I narrowed my eyes at her. Her mood on me dancing with her was really putting a damper on my spirits. "You're not actually mad about yesterday, are you?"

The music started and I heard the teacher again. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we will begin with a basic box step. No, Rebecca, if you're going to dance with Grant, then you must let him lead!"

I glanced at Grant. He was being whirled around by Bex. I could tell her was getting dizzy but enjoying it.

The teacher came over to me and Cammie. She put one hand on me and the other on Cammie. "Hold your partners tightly," and pushed us together.

We began to dance.

My day was just made.

Later in the week…

These girls could gossip. There was so many rumors, you'd have to really dig deep and pay close attention to catch the facts. Plus, after the first day, they took an extra hour to get down to breakfast. Not that mattered to us. Only a few boys woke up really early to make themselves 'pretty' (they said 'handsome', I say 'pretty').

One Friday morning, I had entered the Grand Hall and searched for Cammie. After our first day, she seemed to think that her tour guide duties were over. I tried to annoy as much as possible. Why? I have no clue. I could tell you every school in the country or tell you the British constitution in German. I could not tell you why I was so interested in Cammie or, as I frequently call her, Gallagher Girl.

I was at the waffle bar (these girls have a waffle bar! That's more than Blackthorne has) when Mr. Solomon came up.

"Hello, Zachary," he said. "Nice to see you again."

"Joe," I said as I grabbed a few waffles and put some butter and syrup on them.

"How have you been? I see you've been spending quite a lot of time with a certain Cameron Morgan," he says now.

"She's my tour guide."

"Surely you've seen enough of the school."

"Nope."

"Well, I should warn you, Zach. Cameron Morgan has a very complicated past," Mr. Solomon said.

"So do I," I told him. "Well, I guess that means we are perfect for each other."

"Do me a favor, Zach," Mr. Solomon said. "And stay away from her. She's been through a lot. I don't think she needs you to add to that."

"Who said I would add to her problems? May be I could fix some of them," I say.

"Trust me," Mr. Solomon said. "You probably couldn't."

"Trust is asking a lot of me, Joe," I smirked at him.

"Fine," Joe said dryly. "Just don't hurt her. As I said, she's been through a lot."

I glanced at Gallagher Girl. She was talking to a girl I know as Tina Walters. I watched them, reading her lips and straining my ears just to hear what she says to Tina.

"Tina!" Gallagher Girl gasped. She looked worn out, tired, and completely ready to drop onto a bed but she still managed to look surprised at whatever Tina Walters had just asked her. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, don't look now. He's staring at you," Tina said.

Oh, so they were talking about me? Now I really wanted to know what she was saying.

I saw Cammie glance at the sterling-silver orange juice pitcher and I knew she was watching me and Solomon watch her.

"So, do you like him?" Tina snapped her attention away from us. "Because, according to my research, you technically have dibs on Zach, since you talked to him first. If you want."

So now I'm Gallagher Girl's possession. Alright. I could deal with that. **Smirk**

"Tina," Gallagher Girl didn't even look at me. I thought she would say something like "Zach is mine. Hands off, girls" and wink at me. Of course, I hoped to much. I stiffened as I waited for her to say her next words. Solomon noticed. "I officially…relinquish my claim to Zach."

Tina smiled and went back to her other conversations.

"Well, there you have it," Solomon sounded amused.

If she didn't want me…I was just going to make it that much harder of her to get away from me.

Later, in CoveOps, Solomon led us to some vans. The girls were quite. I sat on one side of Solomon, Grant on Solomon's other side. And who else would be there except for Dr. Steve.

"I say, Mr. Solomon," Dr. Steve kept talking even though no one was listening. "You've done an excellent job with these young ladies. Just excellent. You ladies need to pay attention to this man. He's a living legend."

"Just as long as they remember the most important part of that is the living," Mr. Solomon said. Some of the girls glanced at him, some looked amused. Gallagher Girl looked away.

"Today is about the basics, ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Solomon explained. "I want to watch you move; see you work together. Pay attention to your surroundings and remember—half of your success in this business comes from looking like you belong, so today your cover is that you're a bunch of private-school student's enjoying a trip to town."

Bex piped up, "What are we really?"

"A bunch of spies," Mr. Solomon pulled out a quarter. "Playing tag. Brush pass, Ms. Baxter. Define it."

Bex didn't miss a beat. "The act of covertly passing an object between two agents."

"Correct," Mr. Solomon said I as I saw Cammie glance at me. "The little things can get away from you, ladies and gentlemen. The little things that matter."

"So right you are," Dr. Steve started talking again. I almost grinned. "As I was telling Headmistress Morgan just this—"

"It's you and the street today," Mr. Solomon continued, ignoring my Headmaster. "Today's test migtht be low tech, but this is a trade craft at its most essential."

He pulled out a box of comms units and cameras. "Watch. Listen. Remember to communicate. Observe."

"Pair off," Mr. Solomon said as the can stopped. "Blend in and remember, we'll be watching."

I saw Grant pair off with Kim Lee and Cammie glanced at Bex. They nodded at each other and made their way to the doors but Mr. Solomon stopped them.

"Oh, no, Ms. Morgan. I believe you already have a partner," He gestured at me.

If looks could kill, Mr. Solomon would have been dead.

"Come on, Gallagher Girl," I called to her from behind my shoulder as I headed to the town's square. "This should be fun."

The whole time we walked, she seemed tensed. That look I'd see before was back on her face but I could see her trying to hide it. I wonder what was wrong. I mean, this was her hometown. What could make her be so tense?

May be it was me. After all, she did say she didn't want me.

I decided to see if I could get something out her or maybe it was because I just wanted to talk to her.

"So, come here often?" I asked.

She didn't even look at me. "I used to, but then the deputy director of the CIA made me promise to stop."

I laughed but I could have sworn I saw her stiffen—again, she does that a lot around me or maybe she did that to everyone. I didn't know…yet.

In my comms unit, I heard Mr. Solomon say Tina Walters was 'it' and gave her some advice on how to make it a clean and quick brush pass. On the other side of the square, Tina passed the quarter to another girl.

"Well done."

"So what about you? Exactly where does the Blackthorne Institute call home?" she asked.

"Oh, that's classified," I cocked an eyebrow and watched her face change form curiosity to anger.

"So you can sleep inside the walls of my school but I can't even know where yours is?"she sounded really annoyed.

"Trust me, Gallagher Girl, you wouldn't want to sleep in my school."

I heard Mr. Solomon ask Bex a question as she walked down the street with Grant (he must have re-paired with Bex). She replied without a moments hesitation.

"What do you mean? Why can't you tell me?" Gallagher Girl asked me. Oh, now she was interested in me, you know, after she found out I know something she doesn't.

"Solomon is good," I said just to change the subject as said Solomon corrected Eva Alvarez.

"Yeah. He is." I got the feeling she wasn't in the mood to talk to me. Oh, well. I was going to talk to her anyway.

"They say you're good, too," I say. I'm not stupid, I've heard the CIA rumors about The Chameleon.

"Okay, Zach, without turning around, tell me how many windows overlook the square from the west side," Mr. Solomon asked.

"Fourteen," I said. I had counted them earlier. "They say you're a real pavement artist," I leaned forward. "You know, it's probably a good thing that we got to tail you in D.C. If you'd been following me, I probably never would have seen you."

I thought she'd take it as a compliment and rethink her 'claim' on me but she turned around and walked away. I saw Bex bump into her and brush pass the coin to her.

"Nice pass, Ms. Baxter," Mr. Solomon said.

I caught up with Cammie, just a little ways behind her. I saw her turn down a side street, then pass a pharmacy. She looked deep in thought. That was, until some boy stepped in front of her and said, "Cammie, is that you?"

Cliffy. :) How did you like it? It's a little bit shorter than my other chapters.

This is my first update of 2012. :) How was your New Years? Mine was great. I watched the New York ball drop on TV. Did y'all?

Anyway, happy 2012! :) Don't forget to review!

~SnixX321