They arrive at the mall and Marie's father pulls up to the side walk. "Here you go."

She gets her things and opens the car door. "Thank you all so much. I really appreciate it."

"Bye Alex!" Maries says and waves.

Kirstie gets out of the car and walks to one of the doors to the large mall. Woah. This place is kinda big. Where am I gonna go now? She wonders. She puts her bag on her back and carries her back-pack purse. She walks to a large empty area in the mall to scope out the place.

"I'm ready to go." Taylor says to Isaac.

Ike, Tay, and Zac, are sitting by the fountain in the center of the mall talking and looking at a poster they just got. As Taylor and Ike discuss where to go now, Zac looks around, and sees Kirstie. He stares at her, thinking she's very pretty, and then see's her Hanson shirt. She's standing by a store looking in the window at the rollerblades. She seems like my kinda person. Zac thinks to himself. And the Hanson shirt's a bonus. He stands up waving his arms trying to get her attention. Turn around. Please. Turn around. He thinks.

"Zac, what are you doing?" Tay asks, giving him a funny look.

"I'm gonna go talk to that girl." He says.

"Do you wanna bring some pizza home for everybody, or just go on home?" Isaac asks him, ignorring his comment.

"I don't care. I'll be right back." Zac says, starting to walk away.

"Hey what girl?" Tay asks, looking around.

Zac points to the store where she was standing. "The one right.... Hey! Where she go???" He runs to where she was, looking around. "She's gone."

"Well come on, let's just go." Ike says, catching up to Zac.

"But she was really pretty, and she had a Hanson shirt on." Zac says still looking around.

"Really? We hardly ever see people with our shirts on." Taylor says sarcastically. "She probably would have started screaming and chasing you if she saw you."

"Well that's what I wanted." Zac pouts.

Taylor hands him one of the bags he's carrying. "Let's just go home now."

Zac gives in, still thinking about the girl. I wish she would have just turned around and saw me, then maybe I would be talking to her right now. The 3 brothers walk out of the mall together and head home.

Upstairs in the mall, Kirstie has just sat down at a table with a cup of water and is getting her diary out of her purse.

It's been a really long day. I'm actually in the mall in Tulsa, Hanson is somewhere in this town right now, unbeleivable. It's 8pm and I have no idea where I'm going to stay tonight. I got a ride from a nice truck driver, Jim, and he took me to a rest area past Springdale Arkansas. There was this girl there, Marie, she was 10, and a big hanson fan too. She lives somewhere in Oklahoma, and I got a ride with her and her parents. They were really nice. I had to lie to them though. I told them I lived here. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I guess I'll just have to ask somebody where the closest really cheat apartment is. If I don't have to pay any in advance, maybe I could get a job and have enough money to pay by the end of the month. I'll have to try. I guess now that I'm here, I'll have to face reality. I mean, this is a big city, well, compared to Memphis it is, and I don't think I'll be getting to meet hanson anytime soon. I'll worry 'bout that later. Right now I have to find a place to stay tonight.

Kirstie puts the diary and pen back in her purse and stands up. She looks around at the people, trying to decide who she should ask. She walks over to guy who looks about thirty. He is sitting by himself and eating french fries, with what looks like mustard. Yuck' Kirstie thinks as she taps him on the shoulder

She startles him and he turns around quickly. "Hello. Can I help you mam?"

Why does everybody call me mam? My mom thinks I look young, but everybody calls me mam. "Yeah, I'm new around her and I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find a cheap apartment?" She asks the man, trying to sound polite.

"Um, well, there is some on the other side of town." He says to her, dipping a fry in the mustard.

"How much?" She asks impatiently.

"I stayed there about a year ago. The cheapest one then was 7 hundred a month."

"7 hundred dollars a month?!?" She says, her mouth dropping to the floor. "I'm looking for something really cheap."

"You can't find much cheaper than that. There is one place I know of, it's really trashy though." He says, wringles filling his forehead from his thinking.

"How much is that one a month?" Kirstie is starting to give up hope already.

"I have no idea. I can tell it must be cheap by just looking at the place. It just past the city limits, before you get to the suburbs."

"Could you take me there? Please. I could pay you a little." She asks the stranger. Not knowing if she can trust him, just hoping, because, right now, he's her only hope.

"Sure! My house is that way anyway. And you don't have to pay me anything." He says smiling at her.

Kirstie decides she'll have to trust him, and follows him out to the parking lot. She gets in his car, and he takes her just where he said, a trashy apartment. She thanks him for the ride and walks to the front of the apartments. She goes inside to small room that say 'owner' on the window. Opening the door, she sees a fat bald man sitting on the other side of a desk in the corner of the room.

"What can I do for you miss?" The old man says, smiling at her and looking at her body.

"I need an apartment. How much a month?" Kirstie trys to keep from frowning at the nasty looking man.

"Are you alone?" He doesn't look in her eyes when he talks, he just keep staring at her young thin body.

"Yes."

"3 hundred. Or just 2 hundred if I can get something, he smiles at her and slowly licks his upper lip."

A chill runs down her back. "I'll pay you 3 hundred at the end of the month." She says, giving the man, who looks like he's in his late 30's, a mean look.

"Here you go," he gets a key out of a draw and tosses it to her. "Room 4, down the hall to your left. Come back and fill out a paper in a minute."

on to Chapter 6 ~ A Crazy Idea and a New Friend
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