Katie sat shivering on the couch, a towel wrapped snugly around her, her strands of wet hair sticking limply to her bare shoulders. Zack sat next to her, one arm around her, his equally wet hair plastered to his head, a small towel covering his nakedness. The girl stood before them, hands on hips, and Katie managed to get a good look at the girl for the first time.

She stood at about the same height as Summer did, when she was ten, and she had Zack's dark hair and eyes. Her hair was about shoulder-length, perhaps down to her elbows. She had big dark eyes, and neat little pixie ears. She had a smiley mouth, but at the minute the corners of her mouth were pulled down. She was wearing what appeared to be her pj's, plain white trousers that looked like she'd just that minute put them on, and a white top with the logo on it in silver; Daddy's Girl.

"So, uh... you're Zack's little girl, huh?" Katie asked nicely. The girl rolled her eyes.

"I think we've already established that. So, uh, you're Zack's little girlfriend, huh?" she mimicked nastily.

"Becca!" scolded Zack. "It's past your bed time! It's," he checked his watch, "ten o'clock! Go to your room!" Becca rolled her eyes again, before turning and stomping off upstairs. Zack turned to Katie. "I'm so sorry," he said, his dark eyes pleading with her, "I know I should have told you, but I thought you'd run a mile. I know," he continued, cutting her off, "I couldn't keep it a secret forever, but I just hoped... I don't know, we were having so much fun..."

"I just... Is... Are you...?"

"She's from my first girlfriend, just after we, me and you, broke up, I was..." He blushed, and looked down at his feet. "I was really upset, so I went out, and I met Anna. I... I was in love with her, I didn't love her. We went out for about a year, and we had Becca here. Then, Anna, she got... she got breast cancer, and she died, leaving me with Becca. I've raised her on my own."

"I'm sorry," said Katie softly, and Zack raised his head.

"Don't be," he said briefly, "you didn't know her."

"I'm sorry for you, for your loss." He looked her in the eye, and took her hand.

"Thank you." He took a deep breath, and laughed. "Hey, I've just had an amazing idea! I want you to know – I'm serious about you, Katie."

"And I'm serious about you," she replied sincerely.

"Then why don't you and Becca spend a day together to get to know each other?"


Ok, very short chapter, just introducing the new character and what's going to happen next, so review anyways!