Playing Truant

The next few weeks fly by, and the crisp breath of fall is in the air as the first week of October comes to a close. The leaves are already turning copper and golden, and the remnants of the long summer are at last saying goodbye; jumpers and boots and scarves are being pushed to the front of closets and the fresh scent of looming rainfall is in the air.

Although I like summer, I won't miss being sticky and sweaty ninety-five percent of the time. So hello, October.

Zach and I haven't had much contact since the events of my outburst and the impromptu ride home. Of course, we're still partners in chemistry, and although we got over it all and he's by no means angry with me, he never asks for help and me… Well, I don't offer it. He still calls me Curtains and gives me those insufferable smirks, and I still ignore him as best as I can while secretly admiring those arms.

Anyway.

I've finally settled into some semblance of routine. Get up, go to school with Adam and Michaela, work at the diner, do my homework. I've been itching to get out and capture some of the beautiful Rosewood autumn days with my easel and paintbrush, but it's so difficult to find the time. You might think that my complete lack of social life and total deprivation of male attention bothers me – and, well, you'd be absolutely, utterly, one hundred percent correct.

The only anomaly to the complete boredom of my day-to-day life is today – the wonderful first Saturday of October, complete with a being-dragged-around-every-shop trip to the mall with the girls.

"Hey, guess what?" Macey says as she hauls me to yet another shoe boutique. Bex and Liz are a little way behind us, still slurping their choca-mocha-vodka-shot-supercalafragilistic-god-knows-what lattes. I'm not stereotyping, either – they genuinely ordered something along those lines: something with a long ass name and too much sugar. I just finished my plain old cinnamon latte, and am in the process of mourning the loss of that sweet addiction already. Macey, on the other hand, decided to forgo the whole caffeine drink thing altogether, and chose an iced green tea for herself. Green. Tea. Who buys green tea at Starbucks, I ask you?

"Zach asked me for your number."

I jerk to a sudden stop, almost dropping the shopping bag I'm holding, and crushing the poor Rudolf patterned cardboard cup in the other. "What?"

"I thought that would get your attention," she smirks. "He asked me for your number."

"When?"

"Oh, Monday, I think it was?"

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"Must've slipped my mind," she smirks.

I stare at her expectantly. "Well?"

"Well, what?" she says innocently.

"Did you give it to him?" I say, expression wild.

She grins wickedly. "Yup."

"Y-yup?" I repeat weakly.

"Yup."

"You… you gave Zachary Goode my number?" I ask, almost scared to hear the confirmation.

"Yes!" she exclaims, absurdly happy. I'm confused for about a millisecond before it dawns on me.

"God! Macey, please don't tell me you're trying to play matchmaker," I sigh exasperatedly.

"Who said that?" she smiles evilly at me.

I narrow my eyes at her. "We don't like each other! Heck, we don't even know each other!"

"That doesn't tally with what I've heard." She raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow; her cerulean eyes are practically x-raying me.

"One ride home does not equate to feelings, Mace," I mumble, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Did you just… He gave you a ride home?" she shrieks, coming to a standstill. "I didn't know that! Bex didn't tell me that!"

I open my mouth to tell her that the reason for that is probably because I didn't actually tell her in the first place, but before I can say anything, Bex and Liz catch up to us.

"Did I hear my name?" Bex says, looking a little baffled.

Macey turns on her accusingly. "Yes, you did. Bex, Zach drove Cammie home! Did you know that?"

I groan as Bex turns to face me, hand on her hip. "Cameron Morgan, is that true?"

I sigh deeply. "Yes."

Liz looks at me sympathetically as she holds in a snort.

"Go ahead," I grumble, indicating to her that she might as well let it out. I dug my own grave with that one: not telling Bex everything that happened when our little deal clearly specified that's exactly what I should have done, not to mention it's probably under some section of the girl code named something along the lines of 'Things to Tell Your Friends About Boys and Your Relationship With Them'.

She laughs at the expression on my face, and pats my arm. Bex and Macey just give me an unimpressed look tinged with curiosity, regarding me. After a few seconds, Macey points at a café near us. "We are going to go over there and get a table, and you, my dear, are going to spill, okay? The barista who works there is cute, too, so while we get those details, we'll also get some eye candy. It's a win-win situation."

I roll my eyes. "Alright, alright. It's not even that exciting."

"Huh," Bex mutters. "Anything where that boy is involved is classed as exciting. You should know that by now."

"Can't argue with that one," Liz shrugs.

xxxxx

"Cammie, are you listening?"

I feel something foreign jab at my arm, and my elbow drops off the desk in a fashion which causes my stomach to swoop, and I awake with a jerk, blinking blearily at my maths teacher. He's looking at me disapprovingly, and I can hear the titters all around me as they laugh at the fact that I actually fell asleep in Mr Rogers' lesson. I discretely try to wipe away the drool on my chin, but the girl next to me – who is none other than Penny's right hand lady, Cara Ronin – makes a disgusted face and whispers in a carrying voice, "The new girl just dribbled."

Oh, wow, applause and standing ovations for this absolutely terrific insult. I ignore her, only stopping to give her a withering look, and then straighten in my seat and look apologetically at Mr Rogers.

"Sorry, sir. I, uh, must've dozed off," I say uncomfortably. Thankfully, he seems to be the sort of teacher with no tolerance for anyone like Cara, so he makes no indication of having heard her – but, I'm not sure if his unimpressed look directed at me is a great thing, either.

"Yes," he says peevishly. "It seems you did. Now, if you have quite finished with your nap, I'd like to get back to the lesson. I will repeat my question one more time. Can you tell me how I would differentiate the root of 4x to the power of 3?" He taps on his desk with the tips of his fingers, showcasing his impatience.

My mind goes blank, my mouth going dry. I can still feel the weight of a dozen stares burying into the back of my head, and shift in my seat. "Um, well… You see… First I wou-"

There is a sudden, loud knock on the door of the classroom; I breathe a sigh of relief at this momentary respite from mathematically related humiliation.

The sigh of relief catches painfully in my throat when I see his silhouette in the doorway. What's Zach doing here?

He enters the room in all his glory, gorgeous black hair mussed and eyes vibrantly playful. He walks to the desk, where Mr Rogers is stood, looking hugely irritated at this new interruption to his lesson.

"What would you like, Mr Goode? As I recall, you are not in this class anymore." His voice is controlled, but I can see the vein ticking steadily in his temple: if Zach doesn't hurry up with whatever he needs, Mr Rogers might just explode.

I'm not surprised that Mr Rogers knows Zach's name – nor, about the hint that Zach got kicked out of this class. It seems that chemistry isn't the only subject he shows disregard for.

"Apologies, sir," Zach says, voice as smooth and rich as chocolate soufflé. It's the voice he uses to charm, and while it doesn't entirely seem to be working on Mr Rogers, it sure is working on every single girl in this room. If you looked closely enough, you could probably see them all swooning.

"Sorry to interrupt your lesson, but there's somebody here to see Cameron Morgan; I've been sent to collect her. I believe she's in this class?"

My heart swoops unpleasantly – who's here to see me? Has something happened to my parents? Worry starts to gnaw at me, but I take a deep breath, willing myself to be rational. No, that can't be it. And why would the reception send Zach, of all people, anyway? Shouldn't he be in class?

It appears Mr Rogers is having the same train of thought.

"Mr Goode, shouldn't you be partaking in your own lesson?"

"Ah, nope. I have a free," he says easily. He looks around the room expectantly as he speaks; as his gaze lands on me, so does everyone else's. His face alights in a roguish grin – he looks way too pleased with himself.

What's he up to?

"Hm, yes. Well, off you go, Miss Morgan." I'm too busying trying to glare at Zach, though, and it only registers that Mr Rogers spoke to me a few seconds later. I hear another laugh to my left, and Zach continues to give me that stupid look of his. I shoot up off my chair, smiling thinly at an almost murderous looking Mr Rogers.

How am I going to get out of this situation? I'm not going to get Zach into trouble by saying he's lying – no way. We've only just patched things up. There only seems to be one option, and I heave a defeated sigh: I'm just going to have to play along.

I gather up my things, stuffing them into my bag and hurrying out of place. I make the mistake of looking up at a waiting Zach, who winks at me. My cheeks flush pink, and I all but stumble over my words. "Sorry for the interruptions, sir. I'll catch up with everything by next lesson," I say awkwardly, fully aware of the steam coming out of his ears.

He responds with a tiny nod and turns back to the class. "Is there anyone else who needs to leave, before I start again?"

My face burns even hotter, and I barrel my way past the tables and chairs. I finally reach Zach, who's still leaning against the doorframe and looks like he's trying not to burst out laughing. He doesn't look the slightest bit remorseful, and his eyes are glittering.

If I could slap him right now, I so would.

Once we're clear of the classroom – I don't know how I'm going to face Mr Rogers again after that – I come to a halt in the deserted corridor and fling my arm out in front of Zach. He stops, looking surprised, and I grit my teeth irritably. I shove him over a few steps so we're not near any other classes, and then I turn to face him, hoisting my bag up more securely onto my shoulder while placing the other hand on my hip.

"What was that all about?" I growl.

"What was what all about?" he says coyly.

"Don't play games with me, Goode. And stop looking at me like that," I snap, gesturing at his smirking, mischievous expression.

"Loosen up, Curtains dear. It's all fine." He winks at me.

"And stop winking at me! It looks like you have a twitch! Are you going to tell me why you practically kidnapped me, or not?" I tap my foot impatiently against the linoleum flooring, careful to avoid the big splodge of gum near my heel.

"You have to be in my car for it to be a proper kidnapping. You're still here of your own free will."

"I am not, believe me. Please tell me why you dragged me out of my lesson, Zach." I try to go for the 'feel sorry for me' approach, but I doubt that it's working.

He rolls his eyes. "You are so boring, Cammie. Tell me, have you ever bunked off?"

I stare at him, ignoring his insult. I doubt he meant it to sting so much, so I let it go. "We're bunking off?"

"What did you think we were doing? Obviously, there's no one at the office for you. That was just an excuse."

"Yeah, I gathered," I say acerbically.

"Sheesh, okay, don't get your panties in a twist."

I let out a huff of air. "Won't there be cameras, looking at us right at this very moment? They'll know we're not here!" I don't want to admit it, but I am definitely starting to panic a little. It may be second nature for him to bunk off whenever he wants, but I've never done it before, and although it sounds almost enticing, I can't decide if I should go through with it.

It's a big decision for a girl who doesn't even hand her homework in late.

"Cammie," he says solemnly. He bends down slightly and places both hands on my shoulders. I try not to shiver at this unexpected contact. The place where his hands meet the cotton of my t-shirt… I can feel the outline of his fingers burning the fabric. The warmth rushes instantly back to my face; I am frozen, an ice sculpture with rose petals dusting her cheeks.

God, no wonder I don't get any male attention. I can't even handle a simple hand-on-shoulders moment from a guy who's not even interested in me. Get a grip, woman.

I raise my eyes to meet his, trying to regain control of the temperature on my face; his eyes are deep pools of spring green, light and calm. They are looking at me intently, willing me to stop being so worried about everything and have a little fun. He has a little crease in between his eyebrows, a tiny groove of either concern or irritation; I can't tell. There are even a few freckles splayed across his nose… Oh, and there goes my composure. I can almost see it stripping and jumping into those pools.

Bad thought, bad thought. My cheeks burn even more fiercely, and I almost groan. Why was I looking at his face so much? Do you think he noticed? Wow, good going – I've had the opposite effect of what I was aiming to do. If he wasn't holding me in place right now, I'd either be running away from him or be reduced to a floundering, awkward mess. Not that I'm not one already.

To make things worse, another nugget of information forces its way into my brain: Macey gave Zach my number! He has my number. How do I ask him about it? What do I say?

I exhale slowly. I think that's another problem for another day.

I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here: do not think of stripping while in close proximity with Zachary Goode.

"Er, hello, Cammie?" a bemused voice says, penetrating my muddled thoughts.

"Y-yeah?" I squeak.

"Are you still awake?"

"Wide awake, wide awake," I laugh, a bumbling mess.

"Right, well. I was saying..." he scratches the back of his neck. "You know, it was fine the first time I said it, but you've just made things awkward now."

"Don't I know it," I say glumly.

"Yeah, well, basically, all I was saying was that you should calm down, and it'll be fine," he says, rather bluntly. "I've played truant more than once –"

"Why don't I find that hard to believe?" I interrupt with a roll of my eyes, ignoring his pointed glare.

"– and I haven't ever been caught." A hint of pride enters his voice, and I look at him dubiously, hoping he realises that skiving off school isn't exactly something to be proud of. But then, a more pressing matter makes itself known: I realise that he's still holding my shoulders.

"Um… Zach?" I say, looking awkwardly at his hands on my shoulders and back up at him, trying to avoid his eyes. I stay as still as I can.

He jumps, withdrawing his hands hastily, as if burnt. "Oh! Um, sorry. Sorry about that." If my still shocked mind isn't playing tricks on me, I'd say that those two spots of colour high on his cheeks mean that he's blushing. Zachary Goode… is blushing. Because of me. I think I deserve an award for that. (Let's just ignore the fact that my cheeks are probably about ten different shades of burgundy right now.)

"You're not all funny about personal space and stuff, right?" he asks, rubbing the side of his neck with a sheepish expression.

I suppress a smile at his flustered self. "Nah, you're alright." I grin at him, hoping against hope that my cheeks have cooled down enough for me to not look like a clown while I do so.

"So… are you coming?" he asks earnestly.

I breathe out, one long, controlled release. The hopeful expression on his face tugs at my heartstrings, making him look suddenly so much younger and infinitely cuter – if he asked someone for something with that face, they'd do it for him in an instant. I just hope this is the only time it will work on me.

"I'm coming," I say, resigned. "Just don't get me into any trouble."

"Now, Curtains, why would I do that?" He winks at me, yet again, before bouncing off ahead of me.

"Don't push your luck," I warn him before he gets out of earshot. All I get is a deep, amused laugh in reply.

I shake my head to myself, hurrying forward to catch up, looking around furtively to make sure no one's there.

What am I doing?

xxxxx

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I mutter, aghast. I stare incredulously at the dark haired boy facing me, hoping against hope that this isn't the final destination. What I had in mind… well, it definitely wasn't here. Instead of getting any answers, all I get is the continued grin and amusement of one Zachary Goode, stood in front of his car in the crisp afternoon air.

"Nope, I'm not kidding you," he finally replies, smirking infuriatingly, his bright green eyes twinkling. He dances swiftly out of reach as my arm lashes out at his shoulder, and I end up punching the car behind him, resulting in sore knuckles and a glare in my direction.

"Be careful with Beatrice, Cammie." He instantly scowls, and I roll my eyes.

I pat 'Beatrice' on the hood in mock apology while he inspects every single inch around where my fist hit for damage. Once he's realised my punch really wasn't hard enough to even slightly dent the glinting metal, he turns back to me and snorts at my failed and frankly pathetic attempt to hurt him. I grind my teeth in frustration.

"I thought bunking off was meant to be fun? Don't tell me you dragged me out of class just to come to the diner."

He raises his eyebrows in mock offence. "I didn't drag you anywhere, Curtains. You came pretty willingly. Plus, we're not going anywhere else just yet. You still have to complete your first lesson." I bristle at the mention of 'Curtains', even though I'm used to it by now, but he carries on speaking and I don't get the chance to interrupt or question him. What exactly does he mean, lesson?

"What do you mean? What lesson?" I say sharply, refusing to accept he'd go to such lengths to prove me wrong and believing it all the same. This cannot be about that stupid chemistry lesson.

"Don't you remember our little argument, Cammie?"

My heart sinks as I frown. Of course it is about that.

"I thought we had an unspoken agreement not to talk about it again?" I mutter.

"Well, I would just like to prove you wrong. You see, Cammie… I have a proposition." He tries not let the excitement show but it's shining out of his very being.

"What 'proposition'?" I say, finger quoting the word.

"Lessons, Curtains!" he smirks.

"… Lessons?" I ask, confused.

"I am going to give you cooking lessons, and you," he pauses, smirk getting, if possible, even wider. "You, are going to give me… Chemistry lessons!"

I look at him, quite shocked. "Pardon?"

"We're going to teach each other how to do the things we absolutely suck at," he says happily.

"Right… you know, you can't just do whatever you like with me," I say, trying to be annoyed but failing, for some reason.

"Whatever I like?" he echoes, grin emerging. My cheeks burn as I get what he's hinting at, and he steps forward, already beginning to invade my personal space again. I step back, annoyance returning full force.

"You know what I mean," I mutter, mustering some scorn in my tone but not fooling him as my voice trails off. I don't meet his eyes and take up a sudden interest in the fingernail of my left index finger.

I see him looking at me oddly for a few seconds out of the corner of my eye, before he breaks the rather awkward silence beginning to envelope us.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry for dragging you out of class and marring your perfect one month student record," he says reluctantly, rolling his eyes at my raised eyebrows. "Come on, Curtains, quit moaning. Your face gets all bunched up when you frown, and we need to start…" He pauses dramatically. "Our lesson."

I fight the blush threatening to rise at his comment and instead snort derisively. "You know I can't cook. I'll probably end up cutting off your finger or something."

"Don't worry, Curtains. I won't let you hurt anyone else, or for that matter, yourself." He takes something out of the trunk with a flourish and throws it at me, and I belatedly realise it's an apron as I fumble with the catch.

I stare at the writing on the front of it, surprised: 'May the Forks Be with you.'

"You like Star Wars?"

He turns back to me, lifting his hands up. "Love Star Wars I do."

A laugh bursts out of me. "Yoda voice? Seriously?"

He shrugs, smiling. "Seriously."

MAY THE FORKS BE WITH YOU! Hello, guys! I hope you liked this! Tell me if any of you like Star Wars, because I recently watched the new film and I LOVED IT. I hadn't seen any before, so now I want to watch the first six. Tell me what you thought of this chapter! I thought it was pretty cute. hehe. Love me a little Zammie, and we are finally getting into the main idea of the story. It seriously took me a while to get there, so thanks for bearing with me!

childofhectate: Thank you! I hope your exams have gone well! Yes, you're right lol. I am trying to sort him out, don't worry!

GallagherGirls13BYE: Thank you so, so much! You're too kind! xx

HippieGuru: Well hello amazing reader! Thank you so much! I will happily take that virtual cookie, and here's a virtual cupcake for you because you're so great! Just, thank you! I always smile when I read your reviews. And I love replying to reviews, so it's fine! :)

Selena: AW thanks! Yes, I totally agree with you! Haha, thank you so much. And omg, Divergent! I'm going to admit that, no, it didn't, but it must've come from somewhere in the Divergent section of my brain because I don't normally use the name Beatrice. Does that even make sense? Lol, I'll shut up. Thank you for your review!

gabergirl: Thank youuu!

lovewords: Thank you so much! I love your reviews! Cammie totally deserved it, haha. And we'll get to the juicy stuff soon, all in good time, all in good time. Michaela is kinda a big player in that ;) I can't wait to start writing all of that! And I know, this is the most chapters I've ever done lol. So, quite an achievement. Anyway thank you! Love yaa!

noorshrufi: I hope you liked this! Penelope is kind of Zach's girlfriend: they are that weird couple who are always on and off.

Guest: Ah, you're right! I'll definitely take that on board. It's so hard keeping the characters how everyone likes them! But in this story, Cammie is meant to be sort of shy-ish and awkward and clumsy. Hope you liked this chapter though!

fangirly662: Thank you! I hope that's a good thing? I also hope you enjoyed this chapter! Gosh, yes, I know that feeling! *sending you some update motivation*

YasssGurl: Thanks for your reviews, I got them all at once! I'm glad you're liking this!

Thank you so much everyone! And now I have... A PROPOSITION:

I want to post a one-shot kind of thing on New Year's Eve. It's going to be called Dancing After Dusk and duh, it's a fluffy Zammie story. But they're older and a bit different than what you're used to. I haven't written it yet, but I really want to, and I wanted to let you all know! I'd love for you to read it. I ain't saying what it's about just yet, but any interest, even just from the title? Or nah? Please tell me!

Thanks! xx See ya next timeee.