What's this? An update? Yes, I haven't been the best at this but whatever; hopefully I'll be back now. Lots of stuff has been happening lately, but let's just focus on the chapter for now, shall we? :)

Special thanks to fangirl4eva, Zach-Goode's-Girlxxx, sugar-spice00, XxCandyygirlxX, ButteryHighlights, Kim, Zammie, Cupcake Queen, AinsleyWright, GallagherGirlXOX, HeartZammieForever, and Guest for their reviews. Sorry if I missed anybody, I filtered it to chapter twenty three.

Quick reply to guest reviews:

Thanks so much for them, they were so kind and I'm glad you are enjoying the story and liked the chapter! It means a lot to me, so thank you all so much!

Disclaimed. Onto the story, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter!

Monday, May 13

3:30 pm

Cammie POV

"Where is that stupid key?!" I shouted to myself as I frantically searched through the drawers.

This morning, I awoke in a panic, as I had another nightmare. Someone had stolen the key that I stole from Catherine in the bathroom that one day and they slowly choked me to death. When I woke up, I checked inside my grey sock, and it was still there.

But now, someone had stolen it.

"It's obviously not here," I mumbled to myself again, shutting the dresser drawers. I desperately looked at my roommate's. Could it be in there? Maybe whoever stole it tried to frame them, so that would make sense.

Yet for some reason, I found myself in front of Macey's dresser; it was if there was some magnetic force pulling me to it.

I hesitantly opened it and started rummaging around. There wasn't much in there, I surprisingly learned. I moved over what seemed like an important stack of clothes but found nothing. Then, I moved her plaid uniform skirt from Gallagher.

And I found something.

It wasn't the key, but it was something.

"Huh." I looked at the piece of paper in my hands, and then slowly unfolded it.

It was all in code.

Seriously? Well, Jonas and Liz could decode it later.

I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket and continued digging through the drawers. Just as I finished the bottom and was moving towards the top, melodic music interrupted me. It took me a second to realize that it was coming from my phone, and I dove for it immediately. It wasn't a saved contact, but the number looked familiar.

"Hello?"

"Cammie? This is you, right?" the man's voice on the other end huffily asked. There was something about his voice that seemed familiar…oh crap.

"Flynn?" I sounded confused and hesitant, but I already knew that answer.

"Yes, it's me."

I sighed. "What do you want?"

"I'm really, really sorry, Cammie."

Another sign from me. "Two minutes. Talk."

"I shouldn't have said all those things to you on your birthday. I didn't know you were having a rough day. I was going to wait until our dinner and tell you about finishing filming here and stuff, you know, to surprise you."

"I hate surprises," I mumbled, interrupting him.

"Anyway," he continued, "I didn't handle it very well after all that. I am super, super sorry, Cams. It's one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made."

I was silent for a moment. Flynn did sound sorry, and he showed that he did care about me. He had good intentions, but he still wasn't fair that last day. Though I wasn't fair either-I took my anger on him and I was kind of playing him, he was just a rebound relationship.

"Okay," I finally decided, "I forgive you."

"Y-You do? Great! Do you want to meet up later?"

"Um, that's sweet, Flynn, but I don't think I can make it to wherever you are in time."

"Huh? Oh sorry! I'm back in town for the movie. We can go to this little bistro, it's really good. What do you say?"

I don't know what spirit took over my body. I don't know why it wanted to say that. I don't know why I couldn't control it. I didn't know any of this as I responded, "Meet me in a half hour."

.

.

.

It was a nice little lunch or dinner, whatever you wanted to call this. We kind of caught up (the clearable version of my story, of course) and I had a little fun.

"I really missed being here," Flynn stated as I drank some water.

"Hmm?"

"This is just perfect right now. No paparazzi, no pressure, no worries. Yeah, the fact I have to wear a disguise sucks but whatever-I have complete control right now. Freedom. And I like it."

I gave a small, partially sad smile, suddenly realizing how much I wanted to have that feeling.

As an afterthought, he added, "And it's even more perfect because I can spend it with you."

I finished the last of my water, making little slurping noises to prevent me from rolling my eyes. When I looked up, I saw Flynn just a mere two inches away from my face, leaning in closer by the second. And for some reason, that same magnetic pull from earlier made me lean in, too, now just a mere inch away.

Did I want to kiss him? Hell yeah. But should I?

No, really, should I?

"I have a boyfriend," I blurted out, only a centimeter apart.

He slumped into his chair immediately. "You do?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"Tchotchkes," he cursed under his breath.

"Listen Flynn, you're a really nice person, but I can't cheat on Zach. Yes, he supposedly did to me, but in the end it was just a big misunderstanding. You did help me with that time and I'll admit, I was 'in like' as Bex so eloquently put it. But the bottom line is, I can't do this. This next part is cliché, but I hope we can still be frie-"

I stopped my rant because I realized something he had done.

"Wait a minute, did you curse in Russian?"

His eyes grew wide-some people would call it of shock or false blame, but I knew that it was just the look senior operatives have when they've just been caught. By an amateur.

"Um, movie scene requires it," he lamely put together.

"Yeah, okay," I deadpanned, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms.

He played around with his straw when his watch beeped. "Oh thank god."

"Listen, Cammie, sorry to cut this short but I have to return to the set. But your friends thing, I would like that. See you around."

He stood up and gently pushed his chair in, then turned to me. He hesitated, but came over and gave me a soft, innocent kiss on the cheek, before disappearing into the crowds.

I sat there, waiting for the check to come. I thought about how this meeting-not a date-crumbled apart at the end. Now was not a time for overanalyzing, though, because I knew something needed to be done or else my conscience would never let me hear the end of it.

I needed to find Zach.

I stood up determined, preparing to heroically march out onto the streets. A waitress cut me off with a look, however, and gestured to my table, ending my hero moment.

Okay, I'll continue my quest for Zach.

Right after I pay the bill.

Monday, May 13

5:00 pm

Zach POV

I stomped outside the P&E barn, too focused on the camera to notice my surroundings. I hit a button, bringing me to the next picture. The pictures were the ones that Liz took of Cammie's journal the other day in the passageway. Right now, I was engrossed in reading one of Cam's dreams about a traitor. I was about to start decoding it when I bumped into someone.

"Sorry," I muttered and stepped to the side to continue, my eyes glued to the screen the whole time.

"Zach."

I finally looked up at the sound of that voice. "Oh, hey Gallagher Girl."

She bit her lip and looked around anxiously. "I have to talk to you."

"Okay, what's the problem?"

"I'm not sure you'll like it," she responded in a small voice.

I stuffed the camera away. "It's okay, Cammie. Just talk."

"Flynn's back," she started, and for her sake I tried not to groan. "He called me and asked if I could meet him at this restaurant, to catch up on things I guess."

"So how did he take the rejection?"

She had a worried gleam in her eyes-I knew that whatever this was, it had to be big; Cammie was never this sloppy.

"I went with him," she quietly said, almost inaudibly.

I stared at her, my breath catching in my throat. I wasn't mad, more sad. "How was it?" I asked at last.

"Eh, alright. Just like a couple of weeks ago, nothing too new."

And that's when my heart started to fall. "Oh."

"But he may have…tried to…do something." Cammie chose her words carefully and didn't meet my eyes.

It was silent for a moment.

"Okay, then. Choose who you want, Cammie. If you're choosing Flynn over me again, then as long as you're happy, I'm happy. Just know one thing, Gallagher Girl: I will wait for you."

She looked at the floor for a split second, then met my eyes again. Hers were a bit watery and she was smiling softly.

"Zach, being with Flynn made me realize something about us. He's great, but you're…you're just perfect. You are a piece of me, and I can't live without you. Zach, I already chose you."

I let out a tiny laugh. "Good, because I don't think I could lose another person. Especially you."

She looked behind me and I followed her gaze. Mr. Solomon, Bex, and Liz were standing by a tree, watching us. But he was staring straight at me. Hard.

I was about to step away from Cammie when she pulled me in closer and cupped my cheek. "I love you," she whispered.

And then she kissed me.

I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist and could just imagine Mr. Solomon spazzing out on the floor.

"Zachary Goode, I swear to god, I'm gonna kill you!"

Mr. Solomon came and broke up our kiss, and Cammie was blushing from all the attention we were getting-most of the school was out here already. "Cammie, I forbade you to see this boy."

She rolled her eyes and the crowd 'oohed'.

Bex turned to them. "There's nothing to see here, people! Get a life!"

One kid shouted out, "But this is too fun!"

"You know what else is going to be fun? Me tearing your limbs apart and whacking your face with them!"

Nobody else said a word.

When that drama disputed, Solomon started talking again. "Cammie, answer my question."

"Technically, it was a statement."

"Being difficult I see. Fine. Answer this" Did I or did I not forbid you to see him?"

"You did."

"So now you're disobeying me?"

Cammie laughed. "Relax, Uncle Joe."

Before he could say anything else, Bex and Liz stepped closer. "Look," Bex began, "You gotta let them be together. They're obviously in love. Zach, would you do anything for Cammie?"

"Everything," I responded, braving to stare right into Solomon's eyes.

"And Cammie, do you trust Zach?"

She smiled at me. "With my life."

She pushed us closer together. "Face it Sol, Zammie is happening."

Cammie looked him dead in the eye and smirked, "Besides, we wouldn't want my mom to know about this, would we Joey?"

His eyes widened and he conceded, "Okay fine, 'Zammie' can commence!"

Some people started cheering as he left, no doubt muttering swears under his breath. We stared into each other's eyes, me surprised that Cammie is going along with this PDA.

"Omigosh, you guys are so cute! You're like Romeo and Juliet, except hopefully you don't die!"

"I think that's a little too soon, Bex," Liz whispered.

We didn't care. I brought her even closer to me and kissed her one last time.

are so cute! You're like Romeo and Juliet, except hopefully you don't die!"

"I think that's a little too soon, Bex," Liz whispered.

We didn't care. I brought her even closer to me and kissed her one last time.

Monday, May 13

3:30 pm

Macey POV

"All done, Liz."

She stood up and looked in the mirror, smiling merrily. "Thanks Mace! You did such a good job. Ooh, I just love it!"

"Yes, you look pretty. I get the point."

"Okay, my turn! Your hair should be good now, so I'll just comb it out first."

Five minutes later, she took out a bag. "Makeup time!"

She started with my blush, and I decided to make small talk. "So how's the academy going?"

"Blackthorne? It's fine, still straight A's, but I don't know why, seeing as I'm always involved with these mysteries somehow. But I'm not gonna argue with them about that."

"And by mysteries, you mean this whole thing with me, don't you?"

"Hold on, close your mouth for a sec," she said, rubbing lip gloss on my lips. "There, let me do your eyes, that's all that's left. And yes Macey, somehow I have part in this CU thing."

I let out a sarcastic laugh. "You're trying to question it? Haven't you already realized you're internally involved in it?"

"But Macey," she complained as she smeared eye shadow, "I'm helping everybody else with their part in it."

"Liz, did they ask you for help?"

She blinked. "Not specifically but-"

"But nothing. Liz, you need to get your own problems, not feed off of everybody else's."

"Haven't you thought about how I deal with them? That's how! You of all people should know that I have problems too!"

I smiled sadly. "But I don't know, Lizzie, that's the thing. I don't know."

She seemed taken aback. And flustered. Totally flustered. But then, she shook her head, as if trying to clear a thought from her brain. "Whatever. Let me do your eyeliner."

I blocked my face with my hand when she was about to reach my eye. "Hold on, Blondie. There's no way I'm gonna trust you with a dangerous object near all this."

"Macey," she whined.

Feeling civil today, I gave in.

"Oh alright. But I will hurt you if you mess anything up, and you know I can."

"Great! Can you look to the, um, right please?"

I sat there, thinking about everything that had been happening this semester. This just didn't feel right, these feelings I have. This isn't supposed to happen to girls like me-we're supposed to grow up, fall in love with a rich heir, and have a fairytale ending where we live in a mansion. Yet, I end up locking myself in a mental asylum, and that backfired anyway. At this point, my happily ever after doesn't seem like it's going to come.

"All done. I found a few loose hairs, so I'll fix them. I'm so glad you let me remove the red hair dye, Mace, by the way. I prefer your black hair any day."

"Yeah, yeah. What to the evs."

"That's a nice necklace, Macey."

I rubbed my index finger and thumb over it, muttering a quick 'thanks'.

"The jewels on the crescent are so pretty, I think this goes well with your outfit."

I was about to correct her mistake but luckily I thought it through. Instead, I just offered a small grin, before the corners of my lips turned into something more evil.

"So Elizabeth, have you considered my offer?"

She put the comb down and closed her eyes, probably counting to ten. "Yes Macey, I have."

"And?"

She opened her eyes. "Declined."

My sour look must have shown because she hurried to say, "Don't take it personal, M. I just don't think I'd be right for it."

"Don't you see Liz? This is that moment you've been waiting for. I know that you want this, and you know that deep down, you would kill for this job, no pun intended. Besides, we all know how much you love to win, and the truth is, we've already won."

She cringed a bit and bit her lip before speaking, "But if I do this, I'd be hurting my friends, and I care about them way more than winning."

"Fine then, bitch. Your loss," I said, but on the inside, her words slapped me like a ton of rocks.

For two minutes, we just sat there, staring at each other (though hers was probably of concern while mine was nothing put pure venom). Finally, she let out a small sigh and grabbed her purse. "I've got to go, Mace. I'll see you soon."

But I wasn't done. Before she was able to leave, I pulled out a glass shard, grabbed her arm, and cut it in one swift movement.

I felt her freeze and tense up, turning around slowly. Tears of pain were in her eyes as she looked at the long trail of blood spurting out from her left arm, then she looked at me and the glass in my hand.

"Macey?"

"That's to warn you, that I'll be watching. All of you."

I don't know if she caught the hatred or seriousness in my tone. All I know is that Liz peered into my eyes and gave me a look that screamed, 'You're crazy.'

.

.

.

4:45 pm

My favorite thing about the sanitarium is that they let select patients have outdoor activities unsupervised. Well, they don't exactly leave us alone-if we go to the field, there are two monitors; three to four helpers per floor on the two five story buildings outside; and six assigned to the physical activities. Then there's the bell tower, which is where I go anytime they let me have my outdoor break. In the bell tower, there are two watchers-one at the entrance that checks you and your bags, and the other in the elevator. But in the actual top level, there's nobody-just you and the music. (And also anybody else who's up there, but they usually leave when they see me coming, except for those two occasions.)

The thing about the bell tower is that it's the best place to go in Chmerman. And the reasons why are pretty self-explanatory. There's this nice little room in the center that's off limits, but if you go at the right time, they play this beautiful classical music. And the perfect time to go is when that's happening and the bells are ringing- that's just heaven on earth right there. The thing about the bell tower is that you feel connected and safe there, like all your worries disappear into the bells. Or at least that's how I feel when I'm up there-at home.

So yeah, that's where I went about an hour after Liz left. Luckily, no one else was up there.

I took a moment to lie down near the littlest bell, which happens to be my favorite one (but that's another story for another time). Shortly after, I dug into my bag and took out my binoculars, then crept up to the railing. I peered over the edge and watched everybody out in the field. Nothing interesting there, so I zoomed in and focused all my attention to a certain Blackthorne Institute.

There were Cammie and Zach making (um, ew). Then some other people were playing around in that area. But I found most interesting was a little huddle in the corner, a two person huddle of Liz and Bex.

They were discussing something, no doubt, and it seems as if they were looking-no studying-something in Bex's hands. I tried to zoom into it, but a stupid bird flew right across, blurring my binoculars and messing up my view.

I put my binoculars aside and tried to get an angle of the woods from here-I could practically see the whole town. I had finally gotten the perfect view when my stupid phone began to ring. I quickly answered it and made sure nobody was around to listen in or to snitch that I snuck in a phone.

"Hell?"

"I've got eye on Cammie. Should I kidnap her now or wait?"

"Wait. She might not know who the Chameleon is yet or about her dad," I lied.

"Okay. What are you watching?"

"Everything."

"Ookkaaaay. I have everything ready for the attack, so I'll send you those deats later."

"Sounds good."

"I'll leave you this week's suitcase under your pillow."

"Got it."

"Did you recruit her yet?"

"No, that bitch's not falling."

"Crap. I'm assuming you gave a death warning to her, right?" she asked.

"Something like that."

"Okay, well just keep the options open and an eye out for victims."

"Already on it, boss," I declared and snapped the phone shut, dropping it back in my pocket.

I went back to spying on them with my binoculars for a couple more minutes before plopping it down next to me. As the bells rang, I leaned against the railing, watching with a devilish smile, laying my eyes on the next 'lucky' victim.

.

.

.

end of chapter.

Flynn's back! Macey didn't escape! And you got a Zammie moment! {I suggest you enjoy their cuteness, as you're going to need it for something I'm going to do in a couple more chapters…hint hint.} You should go and pay extra attention to the conversation Macey just had, by the way.

I finished planning the story on September 15th, yay! Now I just gotta get the time to write all the chapters. I'm telling you this because I noticed there is something happening that is kind of similar to something that happened in UWS {loved it!} so just so you know that I didn't steal the idea from her. It'll all make sense when it comes.

So how are you guys? I missed writing and talking to you! Did you like the chapter? Oh, and do you think that I should get a beta for this story?

Please: vote on my poll, check out the Annual Challenge Contest forum {link on my profile!}, read/look out for my new one shots/drabbles/fics, and leave a review on how you think this was {maybe you'll get another preview, who knows?}. Thank you!

xxxlizxxx