Kristina sat by her father's side. She was glad to be back at Port Charles. The familiar doctors made her feel so much more sure that Sonny would recover. She sighed. She wished she actually had the time to see her father when he was awake. What with all her school work, and finals coming up, the only free time she had was before school. And Sonny's medications made him sleep later into the day.

"He's never been like this. I've never seen daddy asleep later than seven," Kristina thought, smiling.

Sonny squeezed her hand and she looked up. "Daddy?"

"Princess," he mumbled. "I love you princess."

"Oh, I love you, too daddy. I'm so glad I've finally gotten to see you. Carly said you've been asking for me" Kristina said ecstatically.

Sonny nodded and said, "I was. I love you honey, but you have to get to school, okay? I know you're busy, but I promise I'll be able to come home soon. I love you."

"Okay daddy. I'll try to come by after school. I love you." Kristina got up and blew her father a kiss. "See you later."

She walked out of the room and waved goodbye to Bobbie at the nurses desk. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. "I thought those heels were you," they said, amused. Kristina recognized the voice right away, and immediately wished she was still on vacation.

She turned around and said, "Hey Joey," trying to sound like she was happy. "How's Taylor doing?"

"Krissy, you know I'm sorry about that. I wish you knew the whole story. I wish I could actually tell you the story, but I honestly can't," he told her.

"Well then, since you've already completely screwed me over, and you can't tell me the story, I don't really see any point in us talking. Have a nice life," she said angrily before walking away. From the hospital, Kristina went straight to the car that would take her to school. She felt relieved knowing that she could avoid Joey at school, and that Morgan would mess him up if he found Joey bothering Kristina.

"Kris!" her best Sofia screamed excitedly when she saw her. "You're back already!? What happened?"

"Well, um, my dad got shot."

"Oh, Kris, I'm so sorry. He's going to be okay though right? Do you need anything? I just saw Jason, Sam, and Lila at Kelly's and they didn't even say anything," Sofia told her, confused.

"Well, you know Jason," Kristina replied, smiling. "He never says much. And he and Sam are so wrapped up in Lila right now, they're not really thinking about anything else. Not that I blame them. That little girl is so adorable. But yeah, my dad's okay, and unless you can take all my finals for me, there's nothing you can do. Thanks anyway. I have more important things to tell you about. I met this guy Jamie in Martinique."

"Are you serious? Tell me, tell me!" Sofia exclaimed, her bright green eyes shining.

So Kristina and Sofia skipped their first class, and Kristina told Sofia all about Jamie. By the time the bell rang, Sofia knew every little detail from his dark hair right down to his love of peanut butter.

"He sounds so nice. Did you get any pictures of him?" Sofia asked.

"No, but believe me, he's hot. Oh my goodness, he's so hot. I wish you could have been there with me," Kristina told her.

They walked to their second period English class and Kristina added, "But, he moved kind of fast for me. I gave him my number, but I don't know how often I'll want to talk to him. If we were to see one another in person, I'd pursue this, but like, he lives in Arizona, so we won't ever be able to see each other."

"Oh my goodness, you cannot make up your mind when it comes to guys, can you?" Sofia said, amused.

Kristina shook her head. "Nope!"

"All right, all right Kristina, Sofia, please quiet down," their teacher said.

"Yes Mr. Alfred," they said in unison, for it was a daily event for them to be talking too loud in any class they had together.

Kristina opened her book to the page written on the board and began reading, thinking how much she hated being in English class. They should be able to talk anyway– speaking is English. Kristina smiled to her friend Elise across the room and then mouthed, "Lise, send me a text message."

She took her phone out of her purse, Gucci this time, and turned it on silent. A minute later, she felt the vibration and looked to see what Elise had wrote.

Text Message from Lise2707: I was talking to Joey. He misses you.

Princess117KC: I really don't care what Joey says. He screwed that up himself. It's his own fault if he misses me.

Lise2707: That's kind of harsh. Did you at least listen to what he had to say?

Princess117KC: No. I'm sure you've heard it though, so do you think I should?

Lise2707: Yeah, and I think you'll change your mind.

Princess117KC: ...Maybe. My dad doesn't like him very much, but that's okay. ;) Well, talk to you later. I think Mr. Alfred saw.

Lise2707: Okay. Bye.

Kristina put her phone away and thought about what Elise had said. If Elise thought listening to Joey would be worth it, then maybe she would. Elise always gave her good advice, mostly because she was a bigger gossip than anyone, but she also always had the full story, and not some twisted, malformed version of it.

"Class, I'd like you each to write a paper on someone who has influenced your lives greatly, but it must be one someone besides your parents," her teacher said.

Kristina raised her hand and asked, "Do stepparents counts?" because she was planning on writing about Carly. Mr. Alfred nodded and Kristina went on, "What about ex-stepparents?" If she couldn't write about her father or Carly, she really wanted to write about Ric. Although he'd left Port Charles years ago, Ric had been a big influence on her life.

"I'll make an exception for that, but I would rather have it on someone besides a parent of any type," Mr. Alfred told the class.

Kristina thought about who she would write her paper on. She didn't really have many influences in her life, besides her parents, and even though she'd be allowed to, she didn't want to write about Ric. Kristina needed the best grades possible for colleges, even though she'd already been accepted to some places.

She thought maybe Michael or Morgan, or even her Aunt Courtney, although they hadn't really ever been that close. And then it came to her. She would write about Lila, not Jason and Sam's daughter Lila, but her little sister who had saved her life.

"Well, maybe I'll write about Lila and Sam, since it was Sam's sacrifice in the first place. Sam was going to induce labor on her unborn child, even though there was a risk to her baby," Kristina thought. "But maybe not."

The bell rang, and Kristina gathered her things, still think about her paper, and whether or not she would talk to Joey.