Hope

Kristel sat in the back of Val's car with Amber in a borrowed car seat. She had expected it to look used, but the car seat smelled like new packaging. This made Kristel wonder where exactly Val had gotten it. "Here we are," Val announced as they pulled into a large parking lot. Kristel gaped at the mall in amazement. She had never been to a store, let alone a mall, this big before.

Michelle laughed, making Kristel look towards her, "You act as if you've never seen a mall before."

"Our malls aren't this big," Kristel gestured towards the building. Then got Amber and herself out of the vehicle. "And they don't usually have two levels," she added as a side note.

"Well, come on. We'll show you around our 'big mall'," Michele tugged at Kristel's arm, pulling her into the Macy's store.

"But first," Val rolled a shopping cart in front of Kristel. "We're gonna look for some outfits." Kristel sat Amber in the child's seat of the cart then followed Val and Michelle around the store.

The girls spent close to an hour and a half in Macy's before checking out. Val and Michelle had half full carts, while Kristel only had a couple outfits for herself and Amber. "Come on Kristel," Michelle smiled, pulling her into the mall. "You're supposed to be shopping, not browsing."

Kristel gave a small smile in return, "I didn't really see anything I liked."

"Well, we have all day and a whole mall to explore," Val gestured to the rest of the mall, making Kristel look around.

"There's so many stores open," Kristel commented.

"Of course there are, silly," Val teased.

"Most of the stores in our malls have closed, so the malls aren't very fun," Kristel shrugged as they walked to the next store.

While the girls were out shopping, Zack was attempting to clean his house. "Zack?" Brian called out, as the rest of the guys trailed into the house.

"In here," Zack answered from a spare bedroom.

"What're you up to?" Matt questioned, walking into the room, to see Zack attempting to find a bed buried under Majesty's dog toys.

"Getting a room ready for Kristel," Zack explained. Tossing Majesty's toys into the hallway to her delight.

"So, you're serious about this?" Johnny asked, dodging a flying toy.

Zack stopped briefly, to look towards Johnny confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's not like you exactly know her," Johnny started out slowly.

"Johnny's got a point," Matt added. "She hasn't told us anything about herself, how do you know she's not going to do something terrible while she's here?"

"And what about her daughter?" Brian interjected. "There's got to be a father out there somewhere."

Zack pondered this for a few minutes, "But, why wouldn't he have gotten in contact with her?"

The guys shrugged, not sure. "I'm sure she'd tell us if we asked," Jimmy suggested after a while.

"What is your fascination with this girl anyways?" Brian asked, thoughtfully.

Zack stopped what he was doing once more, pondering, "There's something about her…I don't know-."

"You like her," Jimmy interrupted Zack.

"Like I said, 'I don't know what it is'," Zack continued, ignoring the comment. "But, in the meantime, I'm going to help her with whatever she needs?" Zack changed the subject, going back to cleaning the bed. Matt shook his head sighing, then began to help Zack, the rest of the guys following suit.

Back at the mall, Kristel had followed Val and Michelle through several stores. The novelty of the mall was starting to wear off on her. "Come on Kristel," Val called, glancing behind herself to see Kristel trailing behind. "There's only a few more stores."

"There is?" Kristel asked perking up, slightly.

"On this level," Michelle finished Val's sentence, making Kristel's momentary excitement vanish.

"And this is why I don't go shopping," Kristel muttered to Amber, smiling as Amber cooed back at her. Kristel continued to trail behind the girls for a couple more stores. Seeing a semi familiar figure coming closer to them, she dropped back even further.

"Val! Michelle!" Gena called, coming closer with arms open for a hug. Kristel watched as Gena came closer, starting to feel sick. Kristel fell further behind Val and Michelle as Gena embraced them, talking excitedly. Then Gena caught sight of Kristel, "I see she's still hanging around."

"Gena," Michelle warned. "She's a guest of Zacks', be nice."

"Right," Gena gave a fake smile. "A 'guest'." Kristel gave Gena a withering glare, making Gena laugh. "Listen up," Gena continued, walking up to Kristel. "Zack is mine, he always was and always will be."

Kristel blinked a couple times, attempting to wrap her head around what she was hearing. Finally, she had had enough of Gena's snobby attitude. "No, you listen here," Kristel started, giving Gena a hard look. "The only reason I am in Huntington is so that I could start a new life for my daughter and myself."

"And you did very well ending up on the street," Gena smirked, crossing her arms.

Kristel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, then put on her best smile. "Yes, I ended up on the street, only because things didn't happen the way that I had anticipated. I have no intention of 'getting' with Zack. The fact that he invited me to live with him is simply him being a kind person. And if you're going to stand there and be stupid enough to think otherwise," Kristel paused, taking another breath before continuing. "Then I pity your simple mindedness." Val and Michelle gaped at Kristel, amazed at how she was handling Gena.

"Well, at least I have a job," Gena finally spluttered out.

"And I can guarantee you that I have a better work ethic then you regardless of being jobless." Kristel spat out, still trying to keep her breathing even. Knowing that she was going to lose control of her anger sooner than later. Kristel glanced at Val and Michelle, trying to get them to suggest that they should leave.

Val cleared her throat, realizing that Kristel wanted to leave. "It was nice seeing you Gena, but we have to get back now."

Gena huffed and strutted back into the mall, making Kristel breath out slowly, calming herself. "Where did that come from?" Michelle asked Kristel in wonder, still getting over what had just happened.

Kristel shrugged, frowning, "I have a habit of being blunter then I should be sometimes."

"Well, she deserved everything you said," Val reassured Kristel, giving her a small smile.

"Why is she so insistent on Zack?" Kristel asked once the girls were halfway to the car.

"She's kind of crazy," Michelle explained. "They were engaged at one time, then she just kind of went psycho one night, so Zacky called it off."

"She hasn't left him alone since," Val finished.

"Crazy," Kristel muttered, as they went back to Zacks house.

The guys had just finished cleaning out the spare bedroom, when the dogs started to bark at the door. The girls' were back. "How was the shopping trip?" Zack asked, a grin spreading across his face at the sight of Kristel.

"Take this back," Kristel shoved Zack's credit card at him. "I don't want it, and I never want it again."

Val rolled her eyes, as Zack looked at Kristel confused. "It took us half the day to convince her it was okay for her to use it, and even when she did use it, it was for one or two things."
"That were on sale," Michelle added, smirking.

"So in other words, she didn't go overboard?" Brian asked, raising an eyebrow looking towards Michelle.

"Is that all you got?" Zack asked, nodding towards the four bags that the girls had brought into the house.

"Um…I think so," Kristel scratched her neck. "There might be one more, but it'd be buried under their bags."

"And how many bags did you two get?" Matt asked, looking towards Val and Michelle.

Val bounced over to Matt and kissed him on the lips, "Enough to show you I love you."
Matt shook his head, then returned her kiss, smiling.

"Kristel, I have a surprise for you," Zack motioned for Kristel to follow him.

"What is it?" Kristel asked, her guard going up.

Zack took her to the spare room. "A place for all the things you bought today, and also a bed for you to sleep in while you stay here."

Kristel looked into the room then back at Zack. "This is too kind of you," she whispered, tears starting to run down her face. She placed Amber on the floor so she could crawl for a bit, then stood back up only to be brought into a hug.

"Why are you crying?" Zack whispered into her ear.

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," Kristel whispered back, almost melting into his arms. Kristel gently pushed out of his arms, trying not to get too comfortable. She couldn't risk feelings right then, she had to get herself back on track.

Zack gave her a small smile, her pushing away had hurt him a little. "Once you get everything settled in the room you can come hang out in the living room with everyone." he invited after a moments awkwardness.

"Okay, thanks," Kristel gave him a smile, as Val and Michelle brought in some of Kristel's bags so she could put them away.