A/N: You better believe it, I'm updating already:)

Chapter Seven

After listening to the amazing story the girls had given her after she had gotten them to calm down, sit down, and introduce themselves, she leaned back in the booth she had sat them down in and thought for a moment.

"So you girls are lost and don't know the way home, eh?"

They nodded.

"And you have very little money left each and don't actually know the address or phone number of this camp you belong to?"

They nodded once more.

"I see," she said. "Well until somebody comes here knocking and asking for you, or you work out a way to get back to that camp, you're just going to have to stay here." She said, as if the matter was now decided.

"Oh, but we wouldn't want to be taking advantage of you, plus, where you would house as all?" Laura said. She might have lost her memory, but that didn't mean she had forgotten her manners.

"No problem," Jo said. "This isn't just any diner; I also provide a bed for the night to any truck drivers that might come through. Of course, this road doesn't get used all that often anymore, not since they built that new one, so I have plenty of room to spare. But if you girls aren't interested…"

"No! I mean, yes! We are, please, if that's alright with you." Ruby said. She was desperate; she would have taken anything if it meant not having to walk any more.

"Thank you so much, we really appreciate the offer," Dawn said. "But I'm afraid we won't be able to pay you, not much, anyway. Unless you take credit card…"

"Credit cards," she laughed. "Oh no. I don't have any of those new fangled machines. But, if you girls are willing to work, I'll take that as payment."

"You mean here at the diner?" Dawn said uncertainly. It wasn't that she was unwilling to work, certainly not, she was used to, grandmother making her work in the hotel and all, but so far it was eight-thirty and she didn't have any customers for breakfast yet, what did she need four teenage girls for?

"If you think I'm crazy for hiring more staff than I need," Jo said, reading Dawn's thoughts. "I'm not. It might not be so busy now, but later on in the day there should be some customers stopping in for lunch, plus, I also need someone to wait the tables, since, so far, I've been handling both the cooking and serving. And I have rooms which need looking after as well. You know, I've been managing this place by myself since my husband passed away a few years ago. Plus, I could do with the company," she said truthfully.

"Well, if you're really sure, we would really love to stay," Melody said. Even though it was she who had been forcing them to walk, that didn't mean she hadn't been getting tired as well. If it had been up to them, it would have taken them much longer then it did to find this place.

"Good then, now that that's all settled I'll show you your rooms. You all look like you could do with some rest, as well as a shower. Come up for lunch whenever you like, and then I'll get you started up with the afternoon chores."

"Are you sure you haven't seen any of these four girls?" Jessica said holding up four photos each of Laura, Melody, Ruby and Dawn. The shopkeeper shook his head, shrugging. Jessica walked out of the store dejectedly and shook her head, indicating no to the group in front of her. Elizabeth, Heaven, Cathy, Fanny and Chris stood waiting outside the store.

"None of these people have seen them!" she exclaimed. "None of them can remember back to yesterday either. What's wrong with their memories!" Jessica threw her hands up into the air dramatically to prove her point.

"Well, that was the last shop, what are we going to do now?" Cathy asked, concerned.

"Okay, so they're not here, but there are plenty of other places they could have gone to," Elizabeth said, now clamed down because she was doing something to look for them rather than just worrying. After all, she was supposed to be the rational twin. "Let's keep going."

Out of the shopping centre, the six of them started their journey around the surrounding shops. Fanny may have been doing something boring, but that didn't mean she was bored. Secretly, Fanny was thrilled. She'd never been out of the Willies before, and this place was so much bigger! There were so many people, and so many shops. She didn't know which way to look. Of course, she'd never let any of them know she was feeling overwhelmed by the largeness of this place. After all, Heaven was acting like it was nothing. Like it was small! Now that Fanny thought about it, Heaven had been acting strange all day. Fanny couldn't place it. Like she was…happy? No, that couldn't be it (because it wasn't fair that Heaven should be feeling happy when Fanny wasn't). Like she was…feeling superior? Yeah, that'd be right; Heaven's always thinking she's better than the rest of us. But there was something else to her usual snobbishness as well. Fanny couldn't place it, but she knew something was up.
As the others walked, Heaven floated on a continuous surge of pure happiness. There was that little voice in the back of her head that said she shouldn't be at a time like this, but it was easily pushed away. She couldn't help it; she was just so happy! She smiled to herself and looked over at the reason for her happiness. Chris. All day she had been thinking about last night, and The Kiss. Well, The Kisses, she corrected. She couldn't be sure, but it may be love!
Cathy glanced over at her brother; he was smiling. Not unusual, but it seemed like an odd time to be smiling when they were looking for her four missing new friends. Cathy had a suspicion as to why he was smiling though. Surreptitiously, she glanced over her shoulder at Heaven. Yep, she was right; Heaven had a matching smile on her face. Cathy felt a little twinge at the bottom of her stomach. She knew it wasn't right, and certainly didn't want to admit it, but that feeling was jealousy. She was jealous of Heaven and her brother. This can't be right…