Hello, hello! New update! I have quite a few chapters already written for you guys actually, I've just got some editing to do first! I'm also planning to go back and do some rewrites of previous chapters at some point, but that'll probably be after I'm finished with everything. Thanks for reading! -Tickgrey

I woke up the next morning to the enthusiastic yelps of Liz. I decided to sneak back into the room so I didn't have to wake my roommates, but that meant I had to be groggy while listening to Liz freak out. "Cammie! Where have you been? It's so good to see you!"

I rolled over and moaned, "Hi, Liz."

Bex ran over to my bed in the most enthusiastic manner I've ever seen at seven o'clock in the morning. She pushed me aside, plopped down next to me, and demanded, "Where have you been? You ran off from your mom's own funeral!"

"I know, I know," I sighed. Here came the hard part. "I just had to get away. I needed to sort some things out on my own. And it was rough, but I knew I had to do it, and I just couldn't face everybody at the ceremony."

Macey, who had just sauntered towards me still half asleep, shot me a look of disbelief, but she rather than press any further, she said, "Okay, but you're sure you're alright now?"

I nodded and slipped into a fake grin. "Positive."

"But, what were you doing? You could have been hurt or killed!" Liz began rambling on with terror in her voice. "You know I would never have been okay if you had gotten killed! I tried-"

"Liz!" I stopped her. "I know, I know, but everything was okay. I was with Townsend for most of the time anyway."

"Townsend?" Bex questioned cocking an eyebrow.

I nodded, "I ran into some unwanted company, and Townsend had evidently been sent to find me. He helped me out, and eventually I ended up back here."

Macey and Bex still didn't look fully convinced by my story, but Liz soaked up every word. "Just as long as you're okay!"

Bex gave me a stern, quite terrifying look, "Promise me you won't run off again? At least until we graduate?"

I nodded. "Promise. I even made Buckingham the same promise."

Macey rolled her eyes, "As if you're worried about keeping a promise to Buckingham. We're the ones you'll have to watch out for if you pull this stunt again!"

"I promise I won't!" I said starting to get slightly irritated; after all, I did just wake up after an hour of sleep. I quickly reined in my emotions and cooed, "Let's get some breakfast. I haven't eaten in a while."

Breakfast was a bit tense that morning. Of course, Tina Walters wanted to know every detail about my absence, but I wasn't budging a bit. If I wasn't willing to tell my closest friends the whole truth, there wasn't a snowball's chance that I was going to even give Tina a lie. Things finally settled down after Macey turned on her signature glare for anyone who so much as looked at me wrong.

But the most eventful part of breakfast was finally seeing Zach again. He stopped dead in his tracks when we caught eyes and almost dropped his plate of waffles and sausages. I didn't know what to do, so I simply waved and said, "Hi, Zach."

He looked like he wanted to run up and kiss me right then and there, but instead, he just sat down across from me and smiled. "Hey, Gallagher girl. How are you?"

"Not bad, how are you?" I returned the smile.

He echoed, "Not bad."

Bex cut in, "Well, now that that awkward, little reunion is done with, let's eat some waffles, shall we?"

After breakfast, it was time to head to the first class of the day: CoveOps. I was a little bit nervous for the inevitable awkwardness of class, but as soon as I arrived, I realized it wouldn't be nearly as weird as I imagined. Everyone seemed used to me arriving and leaving all the time, so I just settled back into my chair and listed to Tina's outrageous stories of conspiracies and scandals while waiting for Mr. Solomon to arrive.

"Alright, ladies! Today's lessons will be some simple threat recognition exercises," Mr. Solomon called as he strolled into the room and set his things down on his desk. There were a few groans, but Mr. Solomon responded, "Hey! Everything you learn in the class is essential for anyone who wants to be a spy."

I knew he was right, but I couldn't help but think that my training as a spy was through. It was time for me to apply it now.

The rest of the day was much of the same. Go to class, get more work to do, wish I were someplace else, and repeat. It wasn't until later that evening in the library as I worked on my stacks of work when a small patch of happiness fluttered back in.

"Hey, Gallagher girl," a familiar voice cooed from behind me. It was almost embarrassing that so many people had been able to sneak up on me from behind recently.

I turned and smiled, "Hey, yourself."

"What do you say you take a break from studying and get a late night snack with me?" Zach flashed his mischievous smile that meant he had something big planned.

As much as I wanted to go with him, I tried, "I've got a lot to do though."

"You'd work a lot faster on a full stomach!" he pointed out as though it were well-proven scientific fact, one which Bex and I completely disproved in our freshman year. "Come on, just an hour."

I shrugged, "Anything would beat this, I suppose."

With that, Zach grabbed my hand and led me off through the halls. I hadn't realized just how late it had already gotten, but it was now nearly pitch black outside and everyone else had long been asleep. Zach pushed open a passageway that I had shown him a while ago and led me all the way down to P&E Barn, my favorite place in the whole school.

"Here we go," Zach said as he sat me down near the wall. He pulled out a bag from the corner with some Twinkies and Mooncakes. "I never said it was going to be the best food of your life, but it was the best I could get on short notice."

"It's perfect," I smiled. I let my head fall back against his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Cam?" Zach sounded somewhat vulnerable now. "Can you promise me something?"

"I've already made about fifty promises that I'm staying until after graduation, but if you really need my promise on that, too, then sure," I rattled off before he could actually ask for his promise.

He shook his head, "That's not it. Promise that when you do leave again before graduation, you'll take me with you?"

I didn't reply for a while. I had to think about that one. My promises to my friends and Professor Buckingham had been mindless and automatic. I hadn't needed a second thought about saying what needed to be said to them: anything to get them to stop bugging me. But, Zach. I couldn't lie to him. I sighed, "That's a hard promise to make."

"I know," he admitted. "Which is why I need to hear you say it. I need to protect you and help you and do whatever you need me to do. You're not alone. Maybe someday when you're a spy, you will be alone, but for now, you've got a whole school of people who will do anything for you."

"Okay," I was caving. "I promise."

"But, Zach?" I started hesitantly. He looked at me again. "There's something you should know first. I met with your mom before I left last time."

And I told him everything.