Surprises at the Mall

At six o'clock that night Quinn and Jen picked Sam up at Riverbend. Then they were on the highway towards town.

"So what kind of details are you thinking about?" asked Sam.

"I was thinking of how, when, and where and stuff like that," replied Jen.

"What if Jake saw us at school holding hands?" asked Sam

"That would work," said Quinn. "Jake would get mad if he saw us at school acting all lovey dovey and holding hands."

They kept talking about different scenarios for Sam and Quinn to do at school and outside of school. Some of the scenarios were crazy and others seemed to fit perfectly with the plan. Finally they made it to Crane Crossing Mall.(Is that right?) Jen and Sam went to all the clothing stores that the mall possessed. Then they went to a few shoe stores. The girls could tell that Quinn didn't really like the clothes shopping or the shoe shopping, but he was being a good sport and not complaining about it. At one of the clothes stores Sam let Jen pick out a sweater, since it was Jen's sixteenth birthday tomorrow. Jen had picked out a sweater that was of course a brilliant shade of orange with neon polka dots on it.

After the three of them were done clothes and shoe shopping they headed to the food court. They all ordered something to eat and a soda to go along with it. They found a table and sat down and started eating their food. A few tables down from the table the three friends were sitting at was a girl with blonde hair. She sat alone and seemed to be waiting for somebody.

"Figures," said Sam. "Of all the girls that have to be sitting a few tables away waiting for her precious boyfriend, it has to be Kate Sanley." Sam sat glaring at the girl. The girl didn't look up and didn't notice the red haired girl glaring at her.

"Let's go," said Sam. Sam made to get up but the other two didn't move at all. "Come on, you guys lets just go. She's probably waiting for Jake and don't want to see them together." Sam said almost in a pleading voice.

Jen looked at Quinn and then she looked at Sam. "What if we put part of our plan into action tonight? If Jake does show up to hang out with her, you and Quinn can start acting like a couple."

"That's a brilliant plan Jen, but there's only one thing wrong with that theory," said Quinn.

"And that would be…"

"I know for a fact that Jake isn't coming to the mall tonight. He told me he was staying home tonight."

"Then that means Kate isn't meeting up with Jake here," said Sam happily. "But then who is she waiting for dressed up like that?"

"Maybe she's waiting for her friends or something," Quinn said.

"I don't think so. She's wearing a very short dress, unless her and her friends are going to some party," said Jen.

The three of them sat at the food court for another twenty minutes wondering what Kate Sanley was doing there. Finally Kate got up and walked out of the food court. After Kate got up Sam, Jen, and Quinn also left the food court.

"That was weird," said Jen as they walked around the mall. "The way she was sitting and looking up every couple of seconds made me think she was waiting for someone. I was so positive she was waiting for Jake, but Quinn said he's at home tonight."

The other two shook their heads in agreement. They continued walking around the mall and were just window shopping now. They passed a clothes store that had a beautiful evening gown in the window. It was a dark blue shimmering gown. Sam stared at it and wondered what it would be like to wear it and go to the Valentine's Dance with Jake. All of a sudden an idea struck Sam.

"Hey guys I have an idea," said Sam. "You know the Valentine's Dance that is two weeks away?" Jen and Quinn nodded their heads. "Well what if Quinn asked me to be his date and with all of the flirting at school that would drive Jake crazy. Maybe just crazy enough that he'll realize that he loves me and not Kate Sanley.

"That would be perfect," exclaimed Jen.

"I could see that working out," said Quinn.

The last place that the three went to in the mall was Tully's Western Shop. (A/N: Is that right?) Sam was looking for a new halter for Tempest. She found one that she really liked, but it was too expensive for her to buy. After Tully's Jen and Sam were window shopping again as they were walking out of the mall. Jen had stopped to look at a cute sweater in a display case in front of American Eagle. Sam turned away from the display case and looked across the mall. What she saw made her think she had lost her mind.

"Hey Jen, am I seeing things or is that what I think it is?"

Jen looked to where Sam was looking and said "Sam you're not seeing things. That's Kate Sanley making out with some guy who obviously isn't Jake. Hey Quinn did Jake and Kate break up?" asked Jen sarcastically.

Sam was looking at Kate and her mystery man making out in the middle of the mall. She felt kind of bad. She should be so happy to have a reason why Jake shouldn't go out with that girl and instead of feeling happy, she felt sad.

"Hey Sam what's wrong?" asked Jen.

"I should be feeling so happy Jen and I'm not. I hate Kate, but I actually thought she truly loved Jake and wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Do you know how much this will hurt Jake if he ever finds out?"

"Don't feel bad Sam. This just proves our point that Kate Sanley is an evil girl and is all wrong for Jake. We could also be overreacting. Maybe the guy is a cousin or something," said Jen.

"Jen if that was her cousin, would she be French kissing the guy like that? I don't think so."

Jen looked over at the couple that was French kissing. "Okay so maybe we aren't overreacting."

After watching Kate make out with the mystery man they broke apart. "We could use this guy to our advantage," said Jen suddenly.

"What are you thinking Jen?" asked Sam

"We could get to know him and then tell him we're friends of Kate's and invite him to the Valentine's Dance. Also Jake won't feel hurt because by then he'll realize that he loves you and will feel betrayed by Kate. Actually this just makes the plan more fun really."

With that Jen went over to the mystery guy who was still standing there. Kate had left a little while ago. While Jen was talking to the mystery man Sam decided to ask Quinn something.

"Quinn, do you think we should tell Jake about Kate tonight?" asked Sam.

"I don't think we should say anything to him yet, and if we don't tell him, it will make the dance even more interesting with the plan and all."

Sam thought about what he had said. If they didn't tell Jake then the plan would go even better and Jake wouldn't get hurt yet.

"I won't tell Jake either. He'd probably think I was making it up or something anyways," said Sam.

While Jen was talking to Kate's mystery guy, Sam was lost in deep thought. She couldn't believe that Kate Sanley could be so evil. Sure the girl was always mean to Sam at school, but to cheat on a decent guy like Jake was unthinkable to Sam. Didn't Kate realize she had the perfect boyfriend in Jake? He would never cheat on Kate, but obviously Kate would. Obviously Jake wasn't good enough for the spoiled little princess. Kate had to find another guy to have fun with besides. Kate didn't know how lucky she was, and probably would never know either. Sam just wanted to get Kate out of Jake's life and save him from the heartache that Kate Sanley would give to him.

Sam realized that Jen was back and was talking to Quinn. She had been so lost in her own thoughts about how evil Kate was she hadn't realized that Jen had come back from talking to Kate's mystery man.

"What did Kate's mystery man have to say?" asked Sam.

"A lot," Jen took a deep breathe and then continued. "His name is Matt Whittles. He's a junior in high school and goes to a school in Reno. He is Kate's boyfriend and drove to Darton to surprise her and to spend the weekend with her. I told him I was a good friend of Kate's. I told him my name was Daisy because Daisy is Kate's best friend and he has never met Daisy. Anyways I told him how much Kate loves surprises and said he should come for the Valentine's Dance and surprise Kate. He said he would love to come and to surprise Kate."

"Wow," said Quinn.

"So Kate has a boyfriend in Reno and is cheating on him also with Jake. That girl has some serious issues," said Sam.

"The dance should be fun. What if Kate lost both of her boyfriends on the same night?" said Quinn.

"That would be perfect," said Sam. "Kate would deserve losing both of her boyfriends for cheating on both of them." Said Sam

"The next two weeks are going to be interesting," said Jen with a smile.

"Let's go home, the last couple of hours have made me tired," said Sam.

The other two agreed and the three friends left the mall. Quinn dropped the girls off at Harmony Ranch.