It's been a while since my last update. I know. August got busy with work and the impending arrival of school. Updates might be a little erratic now that school has started up. Gotta put the work in if you want the honors diploma, right?

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: All the rights for the GG series belong Ally Carter. I am but a humble fan. :)

Chapter FIVE

My sleep was restless that night. I was wracked with guilt over the fact that I had missed Josh's call. When my alarm went off at nine I was already sitting with my back against the headboard, twisting my hands in my blankets. I was staring blankly out my window as my mom called up the stairs when she called out that she was leaving for the day.

Eventually, my clock stopped ringing the alarm. My vision was getting blurry from staring outside for so long without blinking. There was a pounding noise in my head that I attributed to my annoying alarm clock.

It wasn't until I heard a door open downstairs even though my mother had left that I turned my eyes away from the window.

"Hello?" A voice called. It was Zach's voice. "Anybody home?"

I closed my eyes and banged the back of my head up against the headboard. I had been so immersed in thoughts of Josh that I had completely forgotten about meeting Zach for a run. I looked at the clock. It was almost ten-thirty.

I slipped out of my bed just as I heard footsteps on the stairs. I cast a glance at myself in the mirror and was startled at the sight. Somehow I had gotten a rat's nest on the right side of my head and my skin looked so pale I could have been mistaken as the Cullen cousin that got the short end of the stick when it came time to draw for the gorgeous chromosome.

"Cammie?" Zach appeared behind me in the mirror. "Sorry to barge in, but..."

He trailed off as he took in my appearance. "Are you okay?" He asked.

I opened my lips to say I was fine, that everything was fine. I was prepared to lie and say that I'd slept through my alarm and that I was sorry but I'd be ready in a minute for our run. But something in the way he looked me in the eyes through the mirror's reflection kept me from getting the words out.

I gave what I meant to be a laugh but that came out closer to a huff. "You must think I'm pretty weird."

He shrugged and said, "Well, I'm not in a place to judge. I did break into your house."

I cracked a little smile and sat back down onto the edge of my bed. I heard him hesitate at the entrance to the room and turned to look at him. "You might as well come in."

He humphed and rubbed his hand against his jaw before walking the few short steps to my bed and sitting down next to me. The edge of his t-shirt sleeve tickled against the bare skin of my upper arm, and my eyes focused on it. He noticed and scooted a little further away from me.

"Uh, so," he said, not looking directly at me. "Why so down?"

I pursed my lips. "That's kind of a personal question, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah." He rolled his eyes. "But following traditional conventions is a sissy thing to do."

"And you aren't a sissy?"

He looked at me with a joking stare. "Are you saying that I am?"

I elbowed his side and froze for a second. I struggled to continue the conversation without letting on how awkward I suddenly felt. I couldn't shake the feeling of guilt as I sat there joking with another boy while my boyfriend was gone helping the underprivileged. "Sorry for, uh, forgetting about the run."

He nodded slowly. "It's cool. Do you want to reschedule for another time?"

"No, no, I can go now," I hurried to say. "Just give me a minute to get ready and I'll be out."

"Okay." He smiled at me and it crinkled the corners of his eyes adorably. I looked away quickly. He stood up from the bed. "I'll just...wait downstairs."

He headed to the door and I stood up. "Wait!"

He turned to look at me again, his hand on the door frame. His head was quirked to the side and I suddenly felt like I was in the spotlight. My skin felt flushed and my hands were clammy and the room seemed incredibly closed in and hot. Had my mom forgotten to turn on the air conditioning or something?

"Yeah?"

"I just..." I said. When I realized I was making weird, swooping hand gestures, I clasped the rampant appendages together in front of me. "It's just..."

I trailed off as his look got more confused. For the first time I realized what amazing eyes he had. They were this amazing emerald color and when the sunlight hit them, they got these flecks of golden light in them. I shook my head.

"BOYFRIEND!" I yelled.

He took a step back and laughed nervously. "Uh, what?"

"I have a boyfriend. That's what I'm upset about!" OH. MY. GOD.

He smiled. "The fact that you have a boyfriend?"

I shook my hands wildly at him. "No, no, no," I said. "No. That's not what I meant. Josh is great. I mean, he's...Josh!"

"Well that clear's that up."

I gave a little squeak. What the hell was wrong with me? "He's gone for the summer and I just...I'm having some trouble..."

I wracked my head for the right word but Zach beat me to it. "Adjusting?"

"Yes! That is exactly it. Exactly."

"O-kay."

Dear God, please kill me now.

I truly, truly wished I could disappear right now. I wanted to curl up into myself like a turtle and just wait out the storm. Although at the rate I was embarrassing myself at, it would be a few decades before I could live this down. Zach probably thought I was freaking senile.

I scrunched my face and hid it in my hands. "I'm sorry. I'm such a spaz."

"No, it's fine." He said, still standing by the door. I was surprised he hadn't run for the safety of his own house yet where the mad neighbor couldn't get at him. "I get it."

"Oh, so you have a boyfriend spending the summer in the Caribbean, too?"

He laughed. "Nope. I'm afraid not." He took a deep breath. "But I do know that it can't be easy being separated from someone you care about. So, if you need someone to talk to..."

I looked at him disbelievingly. "You want to have a share circle and tell each other our feelings?"

"Hell, no!" He said. "But Abby should be home in a couple hours for lunch and she loves to listen. As a man, I am physically incapable of that feat."

I smiled at him. "Yes, I suppose you are."

We were quiet for another minute. Then he rapped his knuckles against the door frame and said, "So, I'll be downstairs."

I nodded, and he closed the door behind himself. Silently, I dressed into some athletic clothes and slipped across the hall to the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair. When I saw my face up-close for the first time that morning, I was mortified at how obvious it was that I had just been in bed. And I thought my tangled hair had been embarrassing. Admittedly, I didn't look half as bad as I had the first couple days after Josh had left, but I was still a far cry from looking healed.

I splashed some water on my face and patted it dry before heading downstairs, not bothering to put on makeup. There was no point: I wasn't trying to impress anyone and it would all come off running anyways.

Zach was sitting at the kitchen table when I got to the main floor of the house. He was flipping through the People magazine my mom had left on the table last night. He must have heard me enter the room because before I could say anything he spoke. "You know, People always has such inspiring stories." He turned another glossy page. "I wonder how many of them are true."

"I would hope all of them. They are a bit more reputable than the daily gossip rags." I opened the pantry door and grabbed a granola bar. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Nah, I ate earlier." He reached the end of the magazine where the crossword my mother always liked to attempt - but was never able to complete - stared back up at him in bold black and white. "Are you any good at these?"

"Not even a little. My mom likes to do them though." I sat in the seat across from him. "She says they keep her mind fresh."

He picked up the pen my mom had been using for the crossword last night and spun it through his fingers. "Hey, you could probably get this one. What's six letters long and another way of saying 'down in the dumps'?"

I roll my eyes. "Insulting me in my own home? That won't do you any good if you ever want to lose your official title as the jackass next door."

"Who said I wanted to lose that title? It makes me sound badass."

"Or imply that you resemble a donkey."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Do I look like an ass to you?"

I shrugged. "Depends upon the ass."

He smiled and looked back at the newspaper. "So, six letter word."

"I don't know." I took a bite out of my granola bar. "Morose?"

He nods and writes it down. A grin breaks out on his face, and he looks up at me. "3 down: Mules, hinnies, and such."

"Well, that's easy. They're obviously your cousins."

He laughed and for a minute we just smiled at each other. It's surprising how easily I can joke around with Zach when I'm not freaking myself out and getting awkward. He may just be unworthy of his official title as Zach the Jackass. Maybe he's just Zach. For a second, I considered actually asking him his male opinion on my boyfriend being gone for the summer, but I quickly killed that idea. Just because I may or may not find some comfort in the new neighbor's company does not mean that we needed to swap life stories. He seemed like a nice enough guy now that he'd been in town for a few days, but I barely knew anything about him or the multitude of skeletons he could be hiding in his own closet.

For the first time, I realized that I didn't even know his last name. I leaned back in my chair as he jotted down another answer to the crossword. "What's your last name, Zach?"

"Goode. Yours?"

"Morgan."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Morgan."

"Likewise, Mr. Goode." I've finished my breakfast by now and I crumpled the noisy wrapping into a ball. "Ready to go?"

He set the pen and magazine back down on the table. "Yep. Let's hit the road."

I led him to the back door where I slipped into my own running shoes. They were a little worn and starting to form holes at the tips but I was reluctant to get a new pair when these ones were so comfy. It was a quasi-philosophy on life of mine: if it ain't broke, why fix it.

I opened the door for him, and we stepped out onto the deck. "So we'll start here, and I figure I'll show you how to get to the park through the woods. Then we'll take the path back to your own yard."

"Sounds good."

I bit my lip and nodded. At the edge of woods, I stopped to stretch. I pulled my leg behind me as Zach did wall pushups against the support beam of the swing set. My eyes were drawn to his biceps as they grew more defined from the stretch. I swallowed and forced myself to look away.

"Uh, okay. Let's go." I said. He stood up straight and turned to look me straight on. "Just...follow my lead."

"With pleasure."

A smirk spread across his face. Something twisted in my gut and it occurred to me that I might just be crossing into uncharted territory. Who knew what might be lurking in those shadowy waters?

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