Holy Jesus, hold onto your hats girls because I just updated. First, I have a few announcements to make:
Uno: My little itty bitty sister aged thirteen is now reading GG! Gasp, Jojo normally doesn't read so this is big.
Due: Should I post my new Zammie story now (while it is up to chapter 13) or when I complete in half a years time?
Tre: I have really big news (like super big for me) but I can't tell you for another couple of chapters because it isn't certain yet.
Quattro: To any readers who like my dear friend Isaac got confused; NO ZACH IS NOT GAY WITH THE RANDOM FROM THE BARN. I was just joking. Zammie forever, though I'm entirely open to that guy being gay.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to edit this in my haste to update so I'm very sorry for any poor grammar and punctuation.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fabulous characters. But I do own some of the scenes and Lacey and Random-Barn-Guy.
Anyway, here it is…
The headache that had been harassing me since the barn scene was relentless as I laid down on the cabin's bed and tried to get some sleep.
Zach was unconscious on the couch across from me and Liz was religiously checking the cabin's security systems every four minutes. I heard Macey's voice from out on the porch and I couldn't help but remember the first time we had found sanctuary in Mr. Solomon's cabin. Macey's father had been going through a rather large election process and during one campaign three supporters of the opposition had attacked Macey and I on a rooftop.
Sighing, I rubbed my temples and tried to ignore the pounding headache. I rolled over so that I could see the dock through the screen door, and soon found myself falling into a deep sleep.
Music filled the air as my father and I walked through the crowds gathering around the clown tent. The woman in front of us stopped, she'd dropped her purse and was now scrambling to pick it up. My father kneeled down to help her and picked up a napkin that fell out of her bag. He asked if she wanted it, but she shook her head and told him that it was just trash. He put the napkin in his pocket and the two of us walked away to buy fairy floss.
We were sitting in a dinner later that night, in the back corner of the room. I had a strawberry milkshake and dad was shoveling his way through a banana split. "You've got chocolate sauce on your chin." I pointed out, trying not to smile at how childish he seemed.
"Do I now?" My dad pulled out the napkin from his pocket and wiped his chin on the very corner. I watched him pull it away from his face and read the writing on the crumpled white paper. His quick scan of the napkin could have been passed off as an inspection of what food had been on his face, but I saw the words written in black ink. He took another spoonful of ice cream and distractedly tore the napkin into tiny pieces.
Sitting bolt upright I woke and quickly got out of bed. If I had taken time to scan the room, I would have noticed that Zach was no longer unconscious on the couch and that Bex had come back in from her post outside.
I walked, trance-like, to the window that was fogged over by the morning air. In the light of the dawn my forefinger touched the called windowpane, and I started to write.
"Cammie, what are you doing?" Macey asked in confusion.
Liz might have shushed her but I wasn't paying attention because I was soon moving on to the second windowpane. I wrote the names without thinking, they just came to my head one by one, slowly, softly.
"I don't understand, what is she doing?" Bex whispered furiously to Macey. She was probably worried that all the stress had finally gotten to me, that I'd finally cracked. I ignored her as I wrote down the last name and then turned to face my friends.
Liz was scanning the names, committing them all to memory, Macey was chewing her lip and looking at one of the names on the last pane, and Bex was staring at the list with wide eyes.
So I turned to the only person who was staring at me and not the list. He looked at me with those startling green eyes and I realized that he wasn't surprised; I didn't know whether to question him or kiss him again.
So instead I stared back with the same intensity and couldn't hold back the shudder of vulnerability that passed over me as I whispered, "I'm not crazy." I rocked backwards and bit my lip.
He took a step forwards, his eyes never leaving my face, not even to look at the list on the window. "I know."
Believe it or not, that's the most romantic thing Zachary Goode ever told me. And nothing he's said since will ever compare.
Shaking took ahold of me as all the emotions I had ever felt over my father's disappearance came flooding back, looped in time to that song from the circus. All those years of thinking that the song was a sign of my nearing insanity, when really, it was a forgotten memory trying to be noticed. I was relieved, shocked, confused, and overwhelmed. Bottling up emotions for years can do that to a girl.
I hadn't even realized that Zach was now beside me, until he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. I rested my head in his shoulder and closed my eyes until the shaking stopped.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped back and turned to face my friends. It was time to stop hiding and make a plan of action. "So," Bex asked, cracking her knuckles, "what now?"
After checking the room for bugs yet again, we sat in a circle on the floor and devised a plan. No one seemed to object to Zach now being apart of the team, though Bex did occasionally send a suspicious glare his way.
I looked at each of my friends in turn before letting my eyes fall on our computer genius, "Liz, I need you to create a safe network so that you can send a copy of the list to Solomon and my mum. They can share it with whoever they want, and we need to make sure someone else has a copy in case…" I trailed off.
"In case, we're compromised." Zach said, finishing my sentence for me. I nodded, my eyes wandering around the homely cabin, taking comfort in the patchwork quilt and fishing supplies. It was so calm here, so safe.
"So if we aren't going back to Gallagher, what are we doing?" Macey asked, catching on to the fact that if we were heading back to school we wouldn't need Liz to send the list over.
"We are going to hunt down the Circle ourselves, it's too risky to get others involved in a mission that goes directly against a part of the CIA." The others agreed, Bex more enthusiastically than everyone else.
"How are we going to do this?" She grinned determinedly and rolled her shoulders.
I turned to Zach, our resident spy, "I got you the names, now can you trace them down?"
Zach gave a quick nod of confirmation and took the list from Liz, his eyes scanning the names as his mouth quirked upwards into a sadistic smirk. "In fact, I happen to know where the first one lives."
Well Darlings, what did you think?
Sorry for taking so long, but I've got the next chapter written already so it should be up as soon as you review for this one.
I would just like to point out that I am against all the discrimination going on in Australia towards Muslims and the allegations on terrorism. Just because a minority of the religion are terrorists does not mean the rest of the religion is. That would be like saying that all Catholics are like Opus Dei believers or Jim Jones followers. The banning of the Burka is also a stupidly racist idea and the pigheaded politicians need to stop and think about how this could affect the people of that religion and culture.
Anyway, now that I have had my small equal rights rant, let us get to the section where I answer reviews (idea taken from my new twin XxFangirlingBookwormxX)
XxCandyygirlxX: Thank you Lovely, I wasn't sure if the kiss was good enough but you reassured me.
Guest: I love you! Thank you so much, you have no idea how much that review meant to me, it's a favourite review of mine! I'm so glad you found it brilliant and easy to follow, I encourage you to go read the original series sometime soon.
LizzyWXOX: Sorry it took so long Deary, I'm glad you liked it!
kccb16: Thank you Peach, I always love your reviews they are so great to read and they make my day. I'm glad you find the story fun to read, I promise you the new story I'm working on will be even better!
Sunniva Stiener: PLEASE GET AN ACCOUNT SO I CAN SEND YOU A LETTER ON HOW MUCH I NOW LOVE YOU. "This is on my top loved stories of ALL TIME" Can we just print this and hang it on my bedroom wall?
greeneyedsmirker: My new update should be up soon! Yay, it's a little different to my normal chapters.
xXFangirlingBookwormXx: I'm glad you loved, oh evil twin of mine, don't worry I squeal when Viper enters the room. And yes, scary Liz is the best. I'm glad you squealed for the barn scene, I felt like writing something weird and awkward.
Go zach: Oh I will update very soon, be ready for a murderous Cammie.
hannahslye: Next chapter is up soon! Hope you love it too!
Jojo: Your review got me into an awkward situation, because my little sister is named Josephine but everyone calls her Jojo. So I thought it was her reviewing and when I asked her she had no idea what I was on about. Anyway, if you are not my sister, THANK YOU X. If you are my sister; Jo how did you even find this site? But thank you, next time say it to my face.
rin cheshine: For your review on Chapter 6: Sorry Love, I've already written the gala but I can add you into another chapter! You might die though… would you like to be a Circle member?
thebiggestbookworm: For your review on chapter 10: Why yes, yes I did. Thank you for noticing, gold star xx