Cameron tossed her wig and dress into a recycling bin for used clothing and grabbed a tad hack to manipus. Schon was really ovari was no way she was heading back In sa


    Cameron headed straight to the principal''s office


    William was just about to leave for hinch when he spotted her. "Well, hey there kilde, Lonking for me?"


    Cameron nodded. "Mr. Drake,


    your help with something."


    William smiled warmly and gestured toward a chair. "Have a seat. We can talk about anything. How''s your studying going? Another practice testing up the day after tomorrow, right? How many spots are you nning to climb this time?"


    "Don''t worry, Mr. Drake. My studying''s going great," Cameron replied. "I''m expecting to ce in the school.


    five in my ss, maybe top 20 in the whole


    William nodded approvingly. "Good to hear you''re on top of things. Nothing is more important than your studies right now. So, what can help you with?"


    "I need you to change something in my student records," Cameron said.


    William''s brows furrowed. "Your records? What''s the problem?"


    "My gender is wrong" Cameron stated simply


    "What?" Wiliam stared at Cameron''s beautiful, somewhat androgynous face in disbelief. "Come again? Your gender? Your gender is wrong?"


    Cameron ced her temporary ID on the desk, opened it, and pointed to the gender field. "Mr. Drake, my gender should be listed as female."


    William waspletely stunned. Even though he''d dealt with all sorts of


    situations as principal, this caught him totally off guard.


    William took off his wire-rimmed sses and rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again. Picking up Cameron''s ID card, he leaned in close, examining it


    over and over.


    "Female? This form definitely says female," William set down the registration document, looking Cameron up and down in disbelief. "You''re a girl? How did you... When did you be a girl?""


    William couldn''t wrap his head around it. Cameron looked exactly like a handsome young man.


    "Mr. Drake," Cameron said calmly, "I am actually a girl. I just prefer boys clothes." William frowned, "But i could''ve sworn you had an engagement with Amelia?"


    Cameron went silent.


    Seeing her reaction, William quickly backpedaled. "I get it,plicated situation, right? Don''t worry, I won''t pry. I''ll fix your records to show the correct gender, and I''ll keep your secret, but... His face scrunched with concern.


    "But what?" Cameron asked.


    "Aren''t you living with the boys?"


    Cameron fought the urge to roll her eyes.


    "Let me set you up with a private room." Wham suggested, "You should move out of the boys'' room."


    Cameron thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Don''t bother. I''ve already been there over a month. What''s one more month going to matter?"


    Moving out now would just make Elijah and the others puspicious, Camaren thought it wasn''t


    ind the fight Ume to tell them, Sha nned to wait until


    William looked ufortable. Han''t it awkward for you? You are a pití, nhét all"


    Cameron shook her head, "Not at all"


    I''ve lived with this inconvenience for eighteen years, Cameron thought. "What''s one more month?"


    "Don''t worry, I''ll keep your secret." William assured


    In the end, William decided to respect Cameron''s w


    Cameron''s wishes. After all, if news got not that Cameron was actually a girl, it would cause a massive scandal


    With the SATs right around the corner, adding that kind of drama would be a disaster, Correcting her school records would be enough.


    "Thanks," Cameron said gratefully.


    Cameron had barely stepped out of the principal''s office when Xander called.


    "You little punk, where''d you disappear to?" Xander''s voice crackled through the phone. "Elijah said you skipped all morning. This is literally the worst time to go AWOL! What if Samuel sent his goons after you? The concern in his voice was impossible to miss.


    "I''m at school," Cameron replied. "I''m fine."


    Where exactly? Have you eaten yet?"


    "I haven''t "Cameron said, but another call came through. She checked the screen.


    It was Bradley. He rarely called her, so it had to be important.


    "I haven''t eaten either," Xander continued. "Let''s grab something."


    "I''ve got ns." Cameron cut him off. "Find someone else."


    Xander went silent.


    Cameron ended Xander''s call and switched to Bradley''s. "Hey Brad."


    "Where are you?" Bradley asked.


    "Academic building."


    "Meet me in the underground parking garage," Bradley said. "Need to talk to you about something"


    "On my way," Cameron replied. "Knew it had to be something,'' she thought Cameron headed straight for the parking garage, ignoring another iing call from Xander. He was nice enough, just too damn loud.


    Cameron waited by Bradley''s car for a few minutes before he showed up. He unlocked the doors, and they both got in


    "What''s up, Brad?" Cameron asked.


    Bradley adjusted his stance. "Cameron, your foster parents confessed, but the hospital where you were born went under about ten years ago. All the records are gone-vanished."


    Cameron''s face remained calm. "So there''s no way to find my birth parents 2 "Not really, no.


    Cameron nodded, "It''s fine. If it''s meant to be, it''s meant to


    Truth was, Cameron wasn''t that interested in finding them. Let them think I''m


    dead, she thought. Tactually like my life on my nam


    Finding her real family after all this time would just be awkward they''d never been together, never shared anything. The way things were now it suited


    Bradley gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze Without those old records, finding her birth parents would be like looking for a needle in a haydark i really would take a miracle at this point.


    "Hey Brad, I haven''t had lunch yet Your Cameron asked.


    "Me neither."


    "What do you feel like eating? My treat."


    Bradley raised an eyebrow. "Something good happened!"


    Cameron smiled, "You could say that."


    "Care to share what it is?"


    "Not just yet"


    Bradley adjusted his gold-rimmed sses. "Fine, then, Buy me lunch and I''ll celebrate whatever it is with you."


    They ended up at the school cafeteria, ordering a few dishes for their mini- celebration. They


    They still had attemoon sses, after all.


    Austin walked into Room 316 and saw only Elijah, but there was no Cameron in sight. "Where''s Cam?" he asked. "Tutoring Xan again?


    Elijah shot him a cold look. "How should I know? Who am I supposed to ask?"


    Austin was speechless. He stepped closer to Elijah, "Dude, what''s your problem with me?"


    AD


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