Hope

Kristel woke up to a black fuzzy ball next to her. She began to sit up groggily, only stopping when the ball stretched to reveal Icky. She gave a startled squeak, making Icky look at her, wagging his tail. "Good morning," she whispered to the small dog, as she glanced over at her daughter, to see she was still sleeping. Kristel, got out of bed, Icky trailing her as she put her hair up. She went to the dresser in the room and picked out an outfit that Val and Michele had convinced her to get.

After she was dressed, she walked out into the kitchen to see Zack making breakfast. "Good morning," Zack smiled, as Kristel came up to the counter to figure out what she could feed Amber.

"Morning," Kristel returned the smile, as she glanced at the pan in Zack's hands.

Zack followed her gaze to see the burnt eggs in the pan. "Was going to try and surprise you," he mumbled, making her smirk.

"Here," Kristel took a new pan, and mixed up some eggs to scramble. "You want to keep them moving in the pan, so they don't burn," Kristel instructed, as she scrambled the eggs with a spatula.

"Told you, you were a better cook than me," Zack smirked, as he watched her. Kristel shrugged, concentrating on finishing the eggs, feeling Zacks' eyes on her, making her heart race. "Gorgeous," Zack whispered, taking in Kristels' appearance, with her hair put up messily.

"What?" Kristel asked, refusing to look up from the pan.

"T-The eggs. They look delicious," Zack stammered, turning to get plates to put their breakfast on, his face burning.

They were silent for a few moments, not looking at each other. Kristel glanced at the floor to see Icky begging for some of her food. "You've had your fill of eggs," Kristel scolded the dog, making Zack look at her confused. "Yesterday, while you were out, he ate my eggs before I could eat them," she explained.

Zack laughed, "Did you leave them sitting out?"

"Amber started crying so I left them on the table while I took care of her."

"Silly dog," Zack playfully spanked Icky's backside, making the small dog play-bite him in retaliation.

Kristel quickly finished her eggs, then went to get Amber ready for the day. She walked into the living room to see Zack sitting in a chair texting. "Val wants to know if you want a babysitter for Amber while you're looking for a job," Zack mentioned, when he noticed Kristel.

"W-Well I would," Kristel started out, surprised. "But I don't have anything to pay them."

"Don't worry about it," Zack looked up from his phone.

"No," Kristel whined, "You can't pay for everything."

"You're fine," he gave her a quick squeeze, "besides, Val wants to."

Kristel sighed, giving in, grabbing Amber's diaper bag, "Okay...but just this once."

"Just this once," Zack repeated, holding the door for her to walk outside. They walked a couple streets over to Matt and Vals' house, then knocked on the door.

"Oh my God, Kristel, you're wearing the outfit!" Val exclaimed, opening the door for them.

Kristel gave a small laugh, her cheeks burning. "Yeah, I figured I might as well wear it once, before throwing it into the depths of the closet, never to be seen again."

"You will not," Val crossed her arms. "You look cute in that, doesn't she look cute Matt?"

Matt walked into the room to see Kristel in her new outfit, he gave a small smile, "Quit it Val, you're embarrassing her."

Kristel gave a small smile, then changed the subject, "So, Zack, tells me you want a baby for the day."

"Oh my God, yes," Val squealed, taking Amber into her arms.

"Um, well," Kristel stood awkwardly, unsure what to do with her arms now that they were empty. "Here's her diaper bag...there should be everything you need in there." Kristel explained to Val, how much formula to make if Amber were to get hungry and what she was able to eat. She was shoved out of the door with wishes of good luck, as Val smiled at the two.

"Have fun you two," Val waved them off.

"Am I going to get my daughter back?" Kristel joked, looking towards Zack.

"I'll make sure she gives her back," Zack laughed, as they started walking towards the beach. Zack pulled out a carton of cigarettes, and began to light one up before stopping. "You okay?" Zack noticed Kristel's expression.

"Hm?" Kristel glanced at him, embarressed. "No, I'm fine...I'm just going to stay out of the smoke,"

Zack gave her a confused grin, "Why?"

"I have asthma."

"Oh," Zack stopped short, contemplating putting the cigarette away.

"You're fine, seriously." Kristel reassured. "I have a friend who smokes...I just stay out of the smoke."

"If you're sure." Zack looked at her nervously, not wanting to cause her an asthma attack.

"I'm fine," she replied.

Zack lit up the cigeratte, and took a couple puffs before changing the subject, "So, what kind of job are you looking for?"

Kristel shrugged, "I'm not really sure, I've got a lot of restaurant experience, but-" she cut Zack off. "I refuse to work in fast food."

"Noted," Zack nodded, as they started to look at the businesses along the beach.

Closer to lunch, they both we're starting lose energy. They had stopped at several shops, but none of them were hiring. "What am I going to do?" Kristel held her head in her hands almost in tears, as they sat at a table, waiting for food.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. Something will turn up," Zack soothed, taking a sip from his drink.

Kristel shook her head, "I've been in Huntington for over half a year and I still can't find anything." She paused as their food arrived. She took a couple bites out of her food, deep in thought. "Come to think of it I couldn't find shit for work back home either."

"Why's that?" Zack asked. "Nobody hiring?"

Kristel gave a small laugh, "Yeah, nobody hiring me. Mom kept saying it was because I was a single mom."

"They can't not hire you just because you're a single mom," Zack pointed out.

"Oh, believe me," Kristel smiled. "I'm well aware of that. Legally they can't discriminate on anything that could be a factor unless it's specific for a job. So if you're dealing with blades you have to be at least eighteen." She started rattling off, as Zack looked at her confused. "Oh, I was taking accounting courses before I was suspended from college."

"What does job discrimination have to do with accounting?" Zack asked, thoroughly intrigued.

"Not much," Kristel looked thoughtful at her almost empty plate. "It was more because accountants can work with HR, so we had to discuss what can and can't be on a job application."

They finished their lunch then continued Kristels search. They had found a few places that wanted her on the spot. She gave a couple of them a try, but just couldn't get the hang of it. "Let's call it a day," Zack suggested after a while, seeing Kristel's beaten down form.

They started to walk towards Matt and Val's house, when Kristel noticed the state of her clothes. "Val's gonna kill me," Kristel examined her clothes, trying to brush off the soiled spots as best she could.

"I'll protect you," Zack grinned, as he flexed his arms.

"Are you sure those are muscles?" Kristel teased. "Looks more like flab to me."

Zack stuck his tongue out at her as Matt opened the front door. "How was job hunting?" he asked, as Val gasped from behind him.

"What happened to your outfit?" she shrieked, pulling Kristel inside to examine the damage.

"I, um..., had a couple job interviews," Kristel mumbled, not looking Val in the eye.

"You what?" Val asked in horror.

"I had a couple on the job interviews," Kristel reiterated.

"You worked in this outfit?" Val continued, absolutely horrified, making Kristel start to laugh.

"Not for long," Kristel argued.

"So I take it you got a job?" Matt looked towards Kristel, then when she didn't give a response, looked towards Zack.

"Not exactly," Zack chimed in. "A lot of people weren't hiring, and a few of them let her do on the job interviews. She just couldn't get the hang of some of them."

"Well that's bullshit," Val handed Amber's things over to Kristel, and then gave her Amber. "Well, there's always tomorrow. Amber did well, she's such a little cutie," Val tickled Amber's belly, before letting them head back to Zack's house.

"Try again tomorrow?" Zack asked Kristel, who nodded, starting to feel tired, after all her running around all day. "Sounds good." Zack let them both into his house, before they settled in for the evening.