Disclaimer: I do not own the Gallagher Girl series or I Am Number Four series. Rights reserved to the characters and plot.

"Here we are! Welcome to Los Angeles Zach! It's beautiful isn't it! Wow," Joe exclaimed with infuriating enthusiasm as they drove down Main Street, grand historic and elegant buildings coming to view.

Zach rolled his eyes and rested his head against the window glumly, music blasting through his earbuds only to jerk away irritatingly by the heat that was starting to build in the small car.

He sighed and slumped in his seat. "Joe, this is one of the biggest cities in California. How the hell are we going to stay hidden?"

"Easy. Just blend in." Joe replied breezily. He rolled his eyes again. "Whatever."

At that moment the ocean came into view, a magnificent sight if brilliant blue rolling waves like sparking silk stretching across the horizon.

Zach spotted people of all age's elderlies, children, adults but mostly teens his age, jet skiing, in the water, surfing, playing volleyball, everything imaginable. Boy did they look like they were having fun.

Zach sighed watching them with longing and yearned to be a normal kid where those things he would've done for granted.

"And here we are," Joe turned the signal, pulling into the driveway.

Zach gazed up at the small, cozy house with shingles in the roof and an abandoned swing seat sitting on the nicely painted porch. There was even a basketball hoop attached to the side of house.

Zach raised an eyebrow. "This is nice," he admitted stepping out of the car and pulling his bag over his shoulder.

Joe grinned smugly. "Where's the Mr. Doom-and-Gloom now?"

Zach shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Never again Joe. Never again."

Joe unlocked the door and they both stepped into the empty hall, the smell of sawdust and fresh paint flooding his nostrils. There was a pretty large living room, complete with all the necessary furniture and a cozy kitchen leading to a sliding glass doors to a deck.

"There's a Jacuzzi tub too?" Zach asked peering through it. "Yeah, but were not going to heat it," Joe replied.

Zach rolled his eyes keeping in a snarky comment and hauled his two bags upstairs. There were two rooms and he decided to pick the one with the big bay window.

It didn't have the view of the ocean like Joe's room did, just the lovely image of his neighbor's deck but he liked the fresh, vast breeze that blew through, the scent of the large hibiscus flowers faintly drifting around the room.

He didn't need to unpack, always on the move to leave at just the faintest notice so he went back downstairs to see Joe had set up various laptops with wires connected to them.

"Anything?" He asked. Joe shook his head. "No recent activity what so ever. I'm pretty sure we could stay here for a while."

Zach didn't let his hope grow. He pretty much lost all sureness on everything when his parents had died that horrible night.

Ever since then all strings he held on to life had come undone like snipping off a string of balloons and watching it drift up, up, up.

His life had been drifted on nightmare, he'd hardly been awake through the various process of assigning Joe as his "protector", of the packing, the moving every few months, the changed if identity each time.

He remembered a time where he would've thought it was part of a cool movie that only happened in movies. Now, it was as normal as breathing.

"Cool," Zach said nonchalantly. "Hey listen, you mind if I run to the store and buy a basketball for the hoop outside? I saw one not too far back."

Joe turned towards him frowning." Wait a minute, your documents-"

"The clerk is not going to ask me for my ID Joe," Zach interrupted. "I'll be fine."

A crease began to form between Joe's eyebrows.

"What's your name?" He demanded.

"Daniel Smith," Zach replied without hesitation.

"I've never seen you around before," Joe observed.

"That's because I'm new." He retorted.

"Where you from?"

"Arlington, Virginia," Zach said randomly.

Joe nodded. "That's good. Explains why you're not tan enough. Do you have your cellphone?"

"Yup."

"Dagger disguised as a pen?"

"Yeah."

"Be home within half an hour. Before dark. And if you don't answer my texts or calls I swear-"

"Joe this I'd not my first time." Zach cut in. "I promise you I'll be alive by the day ends."

"You never know," Joe muttered before saying louder, "alright. Just be careful. Don't talk to strangers."

Zach rolled his eyes. "Right because my life isn't crazy enough that I'll jump into a creepy guy's van just for the hell of it."

"Don't get snarky with me...young grasshopper."

No in hell way am I just going to the store. Zach thought as he raced to Venice Beach in a stolen car.

His life- well technically he didn't have a life- was down in pits to the point where he was dying to do something, anything.

He ditched the car and stripped off his shirt and jeans, revealing swim trunks.

Soon Zachary Goode was found on a Jet Ski flipping through waves expertly even though he had never tried it before. Everything physical was effortless.

A large wave was rolling towards him and Zach grinned wildly, tightening his grip on the handles in anticipation and easily caught it, jumping off the wave in a 360 flip almost 30ft up in the air.

"Whoo!" People watching cheered and hooted and Zach couldn't help but grin uncontrollably feeling more invigorated in months.

"Hey! Hey, you!" Zach turned to the sound as he hopped of the Jet Ski, peeling off the life jacket to reveal his well-developed abs and biceps.

He smirked. It was an extremely attractive girl in a skimpy bikini walking towards him.

His eyes couldn't help but graze over her figure multiple times. That kind of body you wouldn't find just anywhere.

She approached him and Zach couldn't help but catch his breath. Jet black hair in wet loose curls, high cheekbones, flawless tanned skin… day-um she was gorgeous as hell.

She smiled a boner-making smile and lifting her sunglasses to reveal eyes that could put the oceans striking blue to shame.

"That was pretty damn amazing and I don't give compliments very easily. I've seen many guys show off but nothing like that."

Her eyes roamed his body in the same appreciation." You don't look from here."

"That's cuz I'm not," Zach replied with a smirk, holding out a hand and purposely flexing his biceps.

"Daniel Smith."

She smiled just as a seductively. "Macey McHenry." She slipped her hand in his. "Pleasure to meet you Daniel."

Tightening her grip in his hand she stepped closer to him and his eyes involuntarily dropped to her inflated chest that was only inches from his.

"Take me for a ride," she whispered her lips grazing the shell of his ear, making him want to groan.

An hour and an awesome make out session later, Zach returned back to the house to find Joe waiting for him with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Where were you?" Joe demanded as soon as Zach climbed up the steps. "Buying a basketball," Zach replied twirling the orange ball with his index finger.

"Where else?" Joe hissed with clenched teeth.

Zach sighed but he couldn't really feel annoyance. Joe was his protector after all; he couldn't blame Joe for feeling paranoid of everything Zach did.

"I replied to your texts Joe. I was at the beach remember? I was just having some fun. Nothing happened."

"Fun.Fun?" Joe spat. "You know the consequences of being reckless like that. Millions of Elorics died for you so you can reestablish the planet. Not to have so you can have "some fun."

"Well I'm sorry for wanting to act like a normal teenager!" Zach countered but instantly regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth.

He winced, watching Joe's face morph from deep red, to a strange purplish color.

"You are not even a human being! You are a far cry from being normal, you remember that well Zachary Goode. You were not brought to earth to be normal." Joe yelled, a vein popping in his forehead before taking a deep breath. "Okay. Go on to bed. School tomorrow."

Zach lingered for a split of a second wanting to genuinely apologize but if there was one thing he learned from his Celostan is that mushy-gushy-ness is not how he rolls.

So Zach obediently did what he was told.

"Alright Daniel. I'll just photocopy your documents and print out your schedule and you'll be all set. You can just sit over there for a few moments." Zach nodded at the plump white-haired lady and headed over to the chairs by the window of the principal's office.

But just as he sat down, he heard yelling from the behind the thin glass window.

"This is unacceptable! A complete violation to teacher's privacy rights! How dare she take unsuspecting photos of me and post them on the internet! I demand you her suspend Professor Buckingham!"

Zach turned around and peered through the open space of the maroon blinds to see a round man in equally round glasses standing in front of the principal's desk and waving a paper around.

His razor-sensored eyes zeroed on the paper and realized it was a picture of him shoving his finger up his nose while lounging in front of his desk at a classroom. Zach stifled a laugh.

"Now now, Mr. Steve, let's not get hefty. Miss Morgan will you please come in."

A girl entered the room. Zach only got a glimpse of her blonde hair as she faced the principle and the seething Mr. Steve.

"Yes Professor Buckingham?" Her voice was very soft, but not quiet. Zach found it sort of endearing and wished she would turn around so he could see her face.

"What happened Cameron? You are such a good student and pleasure to work with. Why on earth would you do this?" It was obvious Buckingham had a soft spot for this "Cameron."

Zach found it an odd name, judging by her soft voice and blonde hair. It didn't really fit.

She shrugged. "I'm sorry. Things were rough that day."

"That is no excuse to-"

"Patience Mr. Steve," Professor Buckingham reprimanded. "Alright Cameron detention after school in my office, you will take the picture down there."

Mr. Steve looked like he was about to explode while Cameron nodded, turning around to leave. Zach quickly assessed her face, noticing she was very pretty.

Not as gorgeous as the girl he hooked up with yesterday, but had a certain aura about her that could probably be deduced as an even beautiful girl than Macey McHenry.

He noted she had just the right kind of mischievous twist to her red lips that there was no doubt she would do something like that, or maybe worse.

Which again, contradicted her angel-golden hair, innocent voice and adorable Bambi eyes.

But then suddenly, to Zach's horror, she all of a sudden glanced back, her big brown eyes staring straight at him!

"Shit," Zach hissed, jerking around in one fast motion feeling his face burn. "Daniel?" The secretary called and Zach almost jumped out of his skin.

"W-what?" His voice uncharacteristically croaky. He cleared his throat. "I mean, yes?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "Well, here's your schedule with your locker number at the bottom."

"Thanks," Zach reached out to take the paper, wanting to get out of here before "Cameron" does.

But then Zach heard the hinges of the door creak and kept his face down, his shaggy caramel hair falling in front of his eyes as Cameron walked out.

Ofcourse, the secretary had to call out- that damn Ms. Huffles- to Cameron.

"Excuse me dear, but could you show our new student, Daniel Smith to his locker?"

Zach cringed as she stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. "Sure thing Ms. Huffles,"she replied in that voice again, but Zach refused to look at her, still embarrassed. "Come on Daniel."

"So Cameron, you a bad-ass? Violating the poor teacher's privacy rights to clean his nose in peace?" Zach chuckled as they walked down the hall, his earlier uncomfortable-ness long gone.

She rolled her eyes. "I knew you were eavesdropping. A little Peeping Tom, huh?"

"It ain't eavesdropping when the guy is screaming at the top of his lungs. Who didn't hear it is the real question," Zach replied smoothly.

She smiled, a little dimple forming at the corner of her lip. "Touche I guess. And it's Cammie, by the way. No one but the teacher's call me Cameron."

"Cam-mie " Zach said slowly, rolling the word in his tongue. He grinned down at her. "Oh yeah. Sounds totally bad-ass,"

"Shut up." Cammie muttered, her cheeks flushing. "Anyway, you act like you're such a bad boy when your name is Daniel Smith."

"Well, never say never. You don't know what I did in my last school do you? What I'm capable of?" Zach stopped and whispered, his eyes gazing down at her with ferocious intensity.

He smirked, watching her eyes widen in fear and started laughing. "Gosh, I'm kidding. Don't stop breathing on me. I'm the biggest good boy you'll ever see," Zach grinned, loving the irony and how inaccurate is statement was.

Cammie narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a playful shove. "Jerk," she muttered quickly moving her hands away as she felt the strong dents of his biceps.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Daniel?" A voice shrieked and Zach and Cammie turned to see the "goddess- in-disguise" tromp her way over to them, shoving kids out of her way.

Cammie raised her eyebrows at him. "You know Macey?" He shrugged sheepishly.

"It's so good to see you!" Macey exclaimed, looking divine in a short white lace Hollister ruffled dress that made her legs look like they could stretch out for miles.

Despite the fact that he was really attracted to her yesterday, Zach found himself liking Cammie's modest yoga pants and silk tee (Which really did look great on her; the skinny yoga pants shaping every curve of her toned legs and the tee hugged her body in a very distracting way.)

"You too Macey," Zach replied, smiling tightly.

"Hey Mace," Cammie spoke up from beside him and Macey turned to smile warmly at her. "Hiya Cam."

Zach deduced they were good friends. Which sucked since he made out with Macey but was starting to develop a crush on Cammie.

"So how do you even manage to know everyone in this city?" Cammie asked.

Macey winked. "I have my ways."

After seeing Cammie's raised eyebrows, she leaned down in her 7-inch stilettoes to whisper, "He's the guy I told you about remember?"

Even without superhuman hearing Zach heard it. Macey did not know how to whisper. Or maybe she did it on purpose.

"Oh." Cammie's shoulder's squared and she looked at Zach with the strangest expression. Disappointment? Pity? Whatever it was, the teasing light in her deep-set eyes was gone and Zach didn't like it.

"Well, since Macey's here, she could show you the rest of the way. I have to stop at Madame Dabney's classroom before the bell anyway. You don't mind, right Mace?" Cammie said abruptly.

"Of course not!" Macey exclaimed. She grabbed Zach's bicep, squeezing it deliberately before dragging him away. "Come on Daniel!"

Zach allowed her to take him away but that didn't stop him from glancing longily at Cammie's retreating figure. He had a feeling she had lied.

He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as her scent of strawberries dissolved in Macey's expensive perfume.

He felt as if a magnetic force was pulling him in the opposite direction; where Cammie was heading.

Basically, he wished she was with him instead of Macey, no matter how stunning and popular she was.

Zach vaguely wondered if this is what Joe was talking about, how something becomes undone in Elorics once they meet someone who seems special.

He wondered if it will be a problem, judging by his hectic and dangerous lifestyle.

A.N. So what do you think? I know I suck at endings. Seriously.

I don't really know where this is going to go, but I have some ideas. I think this might be my first multiple-chapter story!

JUST TO CLEAR THE STUFF UP:

-Eloric is what Zach's race is called.

-Celostan is what "Guardian" means in Eloric

-This is NOT a Zacey story, nor will they'll be any Zacey. (Well, I'm pretty sure they're won't be)

I don't like Zach being with anyone but Cammie!

I think Liz will be in the next chapter, not to mention Jonas and Josh! Grant and Bex are going to come in later, I have some stuff planned!

So read and review! Thank you!

Love,

Plain Is Prettiest!

(At least According to Zach and I)