Michelle-Note: Wow. I'm productive...like rabbits or something. Haha...rabbit humor. Anywho,I feel the need toremind you whole two people that are reading this that I have no idea where it is going...but...the plot, it is thickening everso slowly. evil laugh I'm in a weird mood. Do forgive.

Chapter 9: How Ren Met Kate

Ren: Sacramento Mall, Sacramento: 3:47pm: 9 June

The whole downtown excursion didn't go as terribly as it potentially could have. No one was shot, there were no fights, at least not physical ones, Tawny and Ruby went at it a lot, only to be buddies two seconds later, but that was completely normal. Gordo got his footage, and somehow, by some bizarre twist of fate, Ruby got friendly with Miranda. The two of them were now off giggling and getting their food, and the rest of us sat in the middle of the food court. Tawny seemed extremely bored, but it was understandable because she'd been here once today already, and she wasn't much of a shopper.

"Hey, I need to run up to Tommy Hilfiger for a sec to look at some purses that are supposed to be on sale." I said, getting up, "I won't be long. Watch my food, Gordo."

As I walked away I heard Tawny say, "Lick her bread, Lizzie, quick!"

I shook my head and kept walking, pretending I hadn't heard. I didn't really need a new purse, but there was a sale, and one can never have too many. You never really know when you're going to need a particular one for some reason. I took the escalator up, and looked down at all the people. Tawny was sitting with Lizzie, and Gordo, and Miranda and Ruby were walking back, arm in arm. I really don't understand how Ruby could have gotten that girl to open up so quickly. Weirder things have happened, I guess.

Entering the Tommy store, I saw that everything on sale was conveniently labeled with massive signs, this wouldn't take me too long. I just needed to pick my favorite one out of the bunch. It would be a birthday present to myself. I looked at the different styles that hung on the wall, and tried to figure which would hold everything I needed the best, and which would look the best on me at the same time.

I heard an audible sigh to my right, and looked over. Standing next to me was an unfamiliar blonde girl that looked about my age. I didn't realize picking out a purse could make someone so sad.

She saw me looking at her and forced a smile.

"Hi." I mumbled, trying to be friendly.

"Hi."

"Here for the purse sale, huh?" I said, trying to make conversation because she was making me depressed.

"Yeah…I…uh…yeah…been here all day…well…not here in this spot, but in the mall."

I laughed, "You haven't bought anything yet."

"Oh…I have…my boyfriend is carrying it for me."

Her melancholy was killing me, "I might be being a little rude…but…you seem like there's something really wrong. Do you need someone to help you pick out a purse or something?"

She laughed slightly, and shook her head, "I have my best friend here to do that. She's with my boyfriend somewhere around here…"

"You're not from here, are you?" I really can't read people's emotions and should stop trying to. Maybe she was just tired or something, and there I was prying, and she was a complete stranger. What was I thinking?! I'm Ren Stevens. I read books, not people.

"Nope." She snatched a small gray purse from its hook, "Here. This one would be cute on you." She smiled, and handed it to me.

"Thanks. My name's Ren." I extended my hand.

She shook it very cautiously, "I'm Kate."

"Do you wanna go down and get a bite to eat with me and my friends? You can bring your friends too. The more the merrier." I was trying to be amiable and cheer her up. She was definitely sad, but for what reason, I do not know.

"I already got invited to eat with one girl today that I didn't know…and…it just…ended weird…"

"How so?"

"Ah…nothing…it was just weird…"

"Kate! Aren't these the cutest?!" A very skinny African-American girl ran up to her with a pair of underwear.

She slapped on a huge fake grin and said, "You should so buy those!" She then lowered her voice and whispered seductively, "For Ethan, ya know…"

The girl giggled, then noticed me, "Oh, hi! Kate, did you make another friend?"

"Haha. This is Ren." She said, then nodded to girl, "This is Claire."

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"You too."

"How long are you in town for?" I asked them spontaneously.

Claire responded before Kate could, "Oh, we're here until the eighteenth."

"I'm having a party on the fifteenth if you'd like to come. I don't suppose it would hurt anything, and my friend Ruby says I need to go out with a bang, so-"

"Oh, that sounds cool. We'd love to. Partying is what we do best…or…at least…one of the things I do best."

I reached into my purse, and pulled out a post-it and a pen. I scribbled my phone number down, and handed it to Kate, "Here's my number. Give me a call later, and I'll give you the details."

"Would you like to join the three of us for an early dinner?"

"She-" Kate started to say. She seemed to want to talk and be involved in the conversation with me that Claire had monopolized.

"We're pretty much done in here."

"Oh…uh…I'm here with some friends of mine. I'm sure they wouldn't mind-"

"Sounds good then. Come on Kate, hurry up, pick a purse and let's go. I'll go get Ethan." She scurried off for the back of the store.

"Get that one." I said, pointing to a purse above the blonde's head.

"Ok." Her melancholy had returned quite quickly.

Claire and a tall blonde boy with long hair met us at the counter. He was carrying around twenty-five bags. Kate paid, and handed him her purse in another one, which he took without complaint. Then we headed out, and down the escalator. He was introduced to me as Ethan, and Kate's boyfriend, but the comment she made to Claire about the underwear moments before was confusing me a tad.

"There they are. Over there." I pointed, but I was sure they would never be able to figure out who I was pointing at because there were loads of people in the food court.

"Oh shit." Kate muttered after looking in the general direction, then she turned and faced the opposite way.

"What?"

"The girl from earlier today-"

"Oh my God, is that Lizzie?" Claire asked, seeming disgusted.

"And Gor-don!" Ethan said enthusiastically.

When we reached the bottom, I was a little dumbfounded, "You know-"

"I can't go over there." Kate pushed past me and walked briskly away.

"But-"

Claire cut me off, "I just lost my appetite. I'll give you a call when we get back to the hotel."

"Gor-don!" Ethan yelled, and waved the best he could with all of the bags, and paying no mind to the girls who had left him standing there with me.

"Do you know…Gordo?" I asked, not exactly sure, seeing as he was saying Gordon like the name of some kind of alien from a sci-fi movie.

"Yah…" Before he could say anything more, Claire had come back, grabbed him by his arm, and was pulling him off in the direction that Kate went.

I wandered back to my table, slightly confused by the huge coincidence.

Miranda looked at me suspiciously, "Were you just talking to…Ethan Craft…and…and…Claire?"

"You know them?"

"Ethan is only the hottest guy in the world, and Claire is the biggest bitch…after Kate, of course."

I shook my head a little, trying to figure how either of them were bitches exactly. Claire did talk a lot, but was friendly. I may have only spent a few minutes with them both, but neither seemed particularly bitchy. Bitchy was Mandy Sanchez, and neither of them compared to her, even remotely. "I…uh…"

Ruby saved me from admitting that I had invited them to my party not knowing that they knew anyone. "That boy, Ethan…he is fine."

I opened my mouth to talk again, but Tawny interrupted this time, "Ruby…I've been meaning to ask you for years now, but…seriously…where the hell is your accent from?"

"My accent? What accent?" She was offended.

"Tawny!" I said a little louder than necessary, in order to get her attention, "This morning when you were here, did you by chance meet a blonde girl?"

Tawny focused on me for a moment, "Yeah, her name was K-"

Ruby piped up, "Are you trying to make fun of me Tawny? Are you making fun of how I talk?"

"What?" She paused, "No."

"You were making fun of how I talk!"

"No! I was just wondering-"

"You covet your virginity! And I may not be the smartest person here, but I know that you misused that word!"

"Covet?" Gordo raised an eyebrow, "Covet?"

"You covet it, Tawny?" I asked.

"You can't covet it…" Said Gordo.

"Covet means to envy…" I added, "Something of someone else's…"

She winced, "It sounded good at the time…really…"

Our table became engulfed in mass confusion. I saw Lizzie sitting quietly looking off into the distance with her hands in her lap, not getting involved in the chaos at all. Miranda was sitting between Tawny and Ruby, and kept trying to interject, but one of them would cut her off, and Gordo kept going on about her misuse of the word, while Ruby accused her of making fun of how she talked. I was just generally confused, and not able to figure out where one argument began and another ended. I also couldn't figure out how people that Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo knew happened to be here at the same time, and now they were all invited to my party by an unwitting me, and none of them get along. Could the Kate I met have been the Kate that Lizzie mentioned the night before right before Miranda bit her head off about it? And could Tawny have molested that poor girl earlier today?

I sat down and started eating my sandwich, minding my own business, and I noticed Lizzie still looking off at something behind me, looking confused herself, but not paying attention to all the other talking. I turned, and saw Kate standing outside of a store directly across from the food court a pretty long way away. People were passing in front of her going in both directions quickly, and she was just standing there.

"Lizzie, do you know that girl?" I asked quietly.

"Uh…yeah…" She suddenly began to look down at the table.

I turned back around, and Kate had gone on her way.

This was odd, very odd indeed.