Hey! Soo sorry for not updating! I have had the busiest week – parties, clubs, fundraising, Christmas shopping, school – it seem as if I'm never at home! But I'll stop babbling and here's the story, I don't own Gallagher Girls.
1 year later
Cam POV
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
I groaned as I rolled over and slammed my hand down on the annoying alarm. Thankfully, it shut up. I snuggled back down under the covers and dozed off again.
"CAMERON ANN MORGAN YOU HAD BETTER GET UP THIS INSTANT OR YOU WILL MEET THIS PILLOW VERY SHORTLY!"
"I'm up!" I yelled, leaping out of bed and turning to face Bex, who was standing holding a pillow above her head, ready to strike.
You may be wondering why so scared of your best friend, it's only a pillow? However, when that best friend is Bex Baxter, there is every reason to be scared. She can do worse with a cotton bud than most trained soldiers could do with a knife! So a pillow in her hands was a bit like a bludgeon!
When she saw I was actually out of bed, she dropped the pillow and herded me into my en-suite shower room with instructions to get washed and dressed.
"And then come straight out! We need to get you ready for your meeting!"
I grumbled a bit, but complied. I wasn't in the mood to argue.
When I got out the shower 6 minutes later, I looked at the clothes Bex had given me to wear – a black pencil skirt, black tights and a white, fitted, short sleeved blouse.
I got dressed and entered my main bedroom. Macey and Liz had joined Bex and were holding torture . . . sorry . . . beauty equipment. I sighed and let them get to work, knowing that arguing would be pointless – they would win and it would only make me late for my meeting.
By the time they were done, I looked good. I had flawless skin, smoky eyes and peachy lips. Bex had added a slight curl to my hair and Liz had given me a French manicure.
Macey handed me some shoes – black patent heels – and said we should get going. "Don't want to miss breakfast and have your stomach rumbling for the Board now do we?"
"Stuff that, I'm hungry!" Bex whined, heading out the door.
I laughed and followed her, holding the shoes in my hands.
"They just don't change, do they?"
"No, Lizzy, it would appear they don't."
At breakfast
As I looked around the grand hall, my eyes fell on Alex and her friends. I smiled when I caught her eye and nodded. She seemed to understand and turned back to her food.
I got up and walked to the podium.
"Ok, girls, before you leave, I just want to say that I won't be around today, as I have a meeting with the Gallagher trustees. So if for anything you would normally see me about, go to Miss Baxter, ok?" Bex had kept her maiden name when she started teaching at Gallagher. "Other than that, you can leave when you're finished."
There was a scraping of chairs as about half the girls got up and left. I turned round and addressed the teachers.
"Do you mind joining me through the back for a minute?"
They all nodded and we went through a door behind the teachers table to a room behind the grand hall.
"Ok, so I'm heading off to the CIA headquarters for the day, and Bex is in charge. Ms Buckingham, would you mind keeping an eye on Bex for me?"
"Of course, Cameron," she replied with an amused smile. Bex just huffed and slumped in her chair.
"Liz, you're in charge of the labs, I don't want Bex anywhere near there." Bex huffed again. " Joe is coming with me, so his classes will be joining Bex in P&E for today. Bex, don't injure anyone today, please." Bex glowered at me. "Macey have you got that bag packed for me?"
"I'm offended! You of all people should know I had it packed last night!"
"Ok, ok. Just checking. Madame Dabney, would you mind taking charge of mealtimes for me?" Once she nodded I continued. "Joe, what time did you say the helicopter was leaving?"
"9.35."
"OK, that gives us twelve minutes to get to the roof. Thank you to everyone, and good luck." With that, Joe and I left via a secret passageway to the roof.
When we got there, we had 4 minutes until the helicopter was due to leave, so we boarded and sat down.
I looked over at him and saw he was sitting watching me.
"What?"
"I'm proud of you, Cam. Look at how far you've come since graduation. You're the best agent the CIA has ever seen, you have a teenage daughter and you run the best spy school in the country. I just don't know how you cope."
"I wouldn't say the best agent ever seen, Joey. And I had help with Alex. Is it really the best in the country?"
"God, Cam! How can you not see your own talent!? All the girls at Gallagher look up to you; you successfully completed 19 missions in your first year, 26 in your second, and it just keeps getting better; you've taken down terrorist groups in Russia, Israel, Finland, Canada, Australia, Brazil, two in Spain, three in Germany and one in Holland! And to top it all off; yes, it is the best spy school in the country, and it got that title since you took it over. It was one of the top when your mom was in charge, but it was you that pushed it to the very top. I know you don't believe me, but it's all true! You need to try to see this!" he exploded.
"Um . . . I . . . sorry?"
"It's ok, but do you see where I'm coming from? Nobody has ever done as much as you. Therefore, you are the best."
"Ok, thanks Joe. I'm glad you're proud of me."
"Good. Now, I think we've arrived, so let's go see what the trustees want with us."
5 minutes later: Meeting room 8, Floor 6, CIA headquarters.
"Cameron! So nice to see you! And Joe! Glad to see you're in good health," the director beamed as we entered the room. My years of training at the hands of Madame Dabney kicked in and I extended my hand.
"Pleasure to be here. Shall we take a seat and get started?" I said smiling at him, gesturing to the table with eight agents seated round it. I glanced over and held back a laugh at who was gathered round the table; Edward Townsend, Dr Steve, Tina Walters, Kim Lee, Mr & Mrs Baxter, Aunt Abby, and my mom.
"Of course! Of course! Take a seat! Make yourself comfy! Tea?" the director asked.
"No thank you, I had a drink before I came in," I declined, taking a seat.
"Ok then. Joe?"
"No thanks, I'm good."
"Excuse me," Kim interrupted. "But shouldn't we get started on why we're here?"
"Yes, yes. Now, we have been looking at the most recent test results of both Gallagher and Blackthorne, and have determined that Gallagher is exceeding in all areas, especially Covert Operations. So, due to this information, we have decided to transfer Joe to blackthorn to whip those boys into shape."
"Excuse me, sir," I interjected. "But won't that leave Gallagher without a cove-ops teacher? And as much as I love the fact we excel past the boys, I would rather like to keep it that way."
"That's where I come in, squirt!" my aunt piped up.
I smiled and motioned for the director to continue.
"Ok, so that was my next point, Abby will take over the post of cove-ops teacher at Gallagher. We have also decided that, as Gallagher is better than Blackthorne for now, perhaps there should be an exchange so the boys could learn from the girls. What do you think, Cameron?"
"Are Blackthorne boys just as obnoxious as they were when I was in school? Because if they are, I think it would be a wonderful idea. Why not let my girls knock them down a few pegs."
Tina snickered and looked over at me, "oh, don't worry, they're just as obnoxious, in not more so. They really look up to their headmaster."
My mom, Townsend, Abby, the director, and both Baxters glared at her.
"Who is the headmaster at Blackthorne? Due to the fact that Steve is here and not there, I assume it's not him anymore." I asked.
"That information, Miss Morgan, is classified." Townsend said.
"And why is that?"
"That is also classified," he replied.
"Is that all?" I asked turning to the director and raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, why?"
"I need to get back to Gallagher."
"Ok, I'll send you the details of the exchange."
I thanked him and left the room with Joe hot on my heels.
"So, what's the real reason we left?" he asked.
"We need to get back to Gallagher," I replied. As he was opened his mouth to ask another question, I turned to face him.
"We've got some hacking to do."
Back at Gallagher
We arrived back just after lunch had finished. I immediately went to find my friends and took them back to my office.
"Liz, could you hack into either the CIA or Blackthorne to find out who the new headmaster is, please?"
"Sure, but why?" Liz said, moving towards the computer.
"The trustees have decided that due to the fact Gallagher is better than Blackthorne, we are going to give them our cove-ops teacher and do an exchange next year. While I was there, Tina let slip something about a new headmaster, then Townsend kept saying it was classified, and if we're doing an exchange for a year, I kinda want to know who I'm going to be working with." I explained.
"Wait, Gallagher's better than Blackthorne?" Bex asked with a big grin on her face.
"Hold on, we're giving them Solomon? What will we do for cove-ops?!" Macey exclaimed.
"Ah! Yes! I nearly forgot, Abby's coming here to teach cove-ops while Joe's at Blackthorne."
"Cool!"
"I'm in!" Liz shouted.
"CIA or Blackthorne?" I asked.
"CIA," she said.
"Wow, Liz. Isn't that a new record for you? 4.83 minutes?" Bex asked.
"Yup!"Liz said happily. "Ok, so it says here that the Blackthorne boys will be escorted by 4 of their teachers – R&D, P&E, cove-ops, and their headmaster. We know cove-ops will be Joe, and Jonas and Grant teach R&D and P&E, so we just need to find out the headmaster. Right so if I just click that . . . and do this . . . put that there . . . and . . . oh. Um, Macey? Could you look at this?"
Macey went over and looked at what Liz was looking at.
"Shit."
"What is it? I want to see!" Bex playfully whined. Her playfulness vanished when she saw the name. Her face darkened and she looked up at me with a look of worry and fury in her eyes.
Ok, now I had to know. I walked over to the screen and scanned the information.
There was a bit about how Joe had been sent the information a few weeks earlier as he was travelling to Blackthorne tomorrow. A bit about the teachers. Then I saw it.
My breath caught. I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me. I was ready to explode, and all because of that one name, and the link to his pardon underneath.
Zachary Goode.
How could they give him a PARDON! That meant he had been FORGIVEN. I was going to have words with the director. Words, and maybe a few fists.
But first, I had to deal with Joe.
I strode to the door, yanked it open, and yelled for my godfather.
"JOSEPH SOLOMON! GET YOUR SORRY ASS DOWN TO MY OFFICE NOW IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!"
Now, I know I could have just used the PA system we installed a couple months ago, but I needed to let out some steam. Unfortunately, I did this a classes were changing, so a hallway full of girls got to see me majorly pissed off. The freshmen all jumped about a foot in the air at my roar and ran for their lives. The sophomores all looked scared, but didn't run off. The juniors smirked at the thought of Joe Solomon getting in trouble. And the seniors all looked at each other and nodded, as if silently agreeing to hack into the security feed later. However, whatever their reaction, all girls had at least a hint of fear and respect for me, and sympathy for Joe, as nobody wants to be on the receiving end of my wrath.
I decided to spare the girls of the cussing that was no doubt going to take place, and so sent them off to classes.
"Girls, I advise that you move on to your next classes. Now." I said with my voice deadly low and calm. The girl's faces all turned to pure terror and they sprinted to their next class, just as Joe came sauntering round the corner with a smirk on his face. A smirk which soon vanished when I said, "Get in," and pointed to my office door.
He walked through the door into the lions' den. The lions being my friends and me. I followed him in and slammed the door shut.
"Cammie? What's up?" he asked.
I just glared at him and Liz turned the computer screen to face him. When he saw the name, his face dropped and he looked up at me.
"Cam, I know I should have told you, but then you would have stopped the exchange. And if I have to be stuck with the boys for a year, then I'll probably need to come back to civilisation for a bit. Please try to understand," he pleaded.
My face softened a bit and I smiled at the compliment and insult in the one sentence.
"Ok, but from now on, just tell me. I really hate not knowing." I let an evil smile cross my face. "And besides, I can't deprive you of seeing Abby, can I?" The girls giggled at this and Joe blushed. Yes! You heard that right! Joe Solomon blushed!
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" he said, quickly leaving the room.
Once he had left, we all fell about laughing.
"Did you see his face?" Macey spluttered.
"Uh huh! And he blushed!" Bex laughed.
I shakily stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes. "I'm going to go work out in the P&E barn – when he gets here, I want to be able kick his butt!"
"I'll come with you," Bex said, standing up. "I want to be able to beat him to a bloody pulp!"
Liz and Macey got up too.
"I'm going to go check an experiment I'm doing," Liz piped up.
"Yeh, I've got some work to do too," Macey said.
"I guess it's just you and me then," I said to Bex.
"I guess so, but I think I might have a class right now, so I may have to work with them a bit."
"Ok, the dummies have had it easy these past weeks anyway," I said grinning.
"Ha ha! Ok, I think you'll be fine, but I can try and help you while the girls are sparring. I can multitask!"
"Never doubted you could!" I said, and we headed out to the barn to scare some freshmen.
So there it is. If you can think of any way to improve it, or any bits you like/dislike, let me know. All the reviews mean the world to me! I have a rough idea of where I want this story to go, but if you have any small ideas, let me know, and if I use them you will get full credit! I say this as I'm struggling slightly for filler events – events to create the story between major events. Thanks to all my readers, and I hope you enjoyed!
LD xx