She walked down the long winding road, feeling the wind in her hair and hot earth beneath her feet made her feel free. Finally after hours of walking a car passed by, she managed to get the driver to stop. "Where are you heading?" the blonde haired driver asked staring at the girl before him. Her long blonde hair loose around her shoulders, her denim skirt showing off her shapely legs, her shirt clinging in all the right places. "Wherever you're heading" she said with a smile, he smiled back. "Hop in" he insisted. As they started driving along the long road ahead they started to make conversation. "Do you always hitchhike?" he teased, she laughed at him and crossed her legs. "Its definitely new to me, so where are we going?" "You'll see when we get there" he said glancing at her with a smile before turning his eye back to the road. She laughed reaching in her bag, looking like she was looking for something in particular. "Looking for something?" he asked. "Just my pepper spray..incase you try anything" she teased. "Ahaa so you've been in my car 5 minutes and you've already judged me and figured out what I'm all about, that's nice" he joked. "I don't judge, that's the whole reason I'm in a stranger's car. So don't be such a stranger, tell me about yourself…starting with your name" she spoke curling her feet up underneath her. "Ahh ok. I'm Zack, I'm 18, lived in Boston until last year with my mom and my brother now I live alone in an apartment with my dog Rodie in Brentwood Tennessee, I dropped outta school due to stress and depression and that's when I figured I should move. A fresh start, ok now you go," he said giving her a quick glance. " I'm Maddie, 21, moved to a college away from home but dropped out to pursue a singing career I was getting somewhere until 6 months ago my agent skipped town taking all my earnings with him. So I moved back home, I actually lived in Boston too but my parents got sick of me a few weeks ago so I've been crashing at friends houses until now" she explained. Zack's stomach dived when she said her name, she said she used to live in Boston..is this my Maddie? He thought to himself, suddenly seeing the striking resemblance she had to his Maddie. He decided not to say anything, she obviously didn't remember him after all he was just another kid with a crush on the candy counter girl. He seems really familiar Maddie thought to herself, he's from Boston too…could this be my Zack?
After a few hours of driving they finally reached their destination. "Welcome to apartment a la Zack" Zack joked as he opened his front door. Inside it was tiny but clean and respectable, especially for a guy of his age. "Nice place" she smiled stepping inside. "Thanks..can I get you anything? Water, soda, beer?" he asked politely. "Guy after my own heart, I'd love a beer thanks" she smiled as he made his way into the kitchen. She heard the sound of the refrigerator door closing and the sound of bottles being opened. "I haven't been here for a few days so I'm gonna have to order some food in, pizza sound ok?" he asked as they sat down on the couch. Maddie's stomach grumbled, "sounds great" she giggled. Zack started dialing the number of a local pizza delivery and ordered what they wanted, "should be about 30 minutes," he stated. "So uhh by the sounds of things you don't have a place to stay…and your not headed nowhere, I've got a spare room if your interested" he offered casually swigging his beer. Maddie smiled, she couldn't believe how sweet he was…it wouldn't be so surprising if this did turn out to be her Zack. "Are you sure? That's so nice thank you so much". "No problem. I'll just go make up the guest bed" he spoke setting his bottle down and heading out of the living area. She took the opportunity to check out Zack's living room; she looked at a few pictures lying around. She really could see a striking resemblance between the guy that she was with now and the guy that she left in Boston all those years ago. She saw a photo album lying on his table, she picked it up checking he was still in another room and started flicking through it. She was almost at the end when something caught her eye, a picture of him in front of a hotel…if only she could make out the name. She looked at it closer and suddenly realized, it was the Tipton.