Page 27 of Amber: Deja Brew

“Of course you can visit sooner!” Julian cries, interrupting her. I notice that unlike this morning, when he was trying to stop them from visiting, he doesn’t even hesitate.

I should feel relieved, but this time I’m the one who’s panicking. Because what if his family doesn’t approve? What if they no longer want Julian and me dating? What if I mess up Julian’s relationship with his family and their relationships with each other?

“Wait till I tell Mom! She’s going to be so excited.” Erin squeals, and I can practically hear her doing a happy dance on the other line. “And wait until I tell Kris and Tay!”

“Erin, I swear if you made up the thing about Mom and Dad just to come here, I’ll—”

“I didn’t make it up!” Erin cries. “Oh, Mom just turned off the shower. I’m going to go—”

“Wait!” Julian cries, interrupting her excited rambling. “I need your help, first.”

“Does this have to do with Amber?” Erin asks. “Do you need dating advice?”

“No, I don’t need dating advice!” Julian snaps.

“Clearly, you do, if you were gonna ask Mom!”

“I wasn’t going to ask Mom for dating advice! Look, Erin, I just need you to go next door and see if Mini’s home.”

“She’s not,” Erin replies instantly.

“Can you just check? She’s not here, so I think she might have flown home.”

“She did,” Erin says. “She flew in this morning, but then Mom drove her and her parents back to the airport.”

“So, she’s coming back to Silver Springs?” I grin.

“Oh, hey, Amber! Didn’t know you were there...” Erin hesitates. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure thing, what is it?”

“Now that you’re with Juli, does that make us sisters?”

“Um...” I send him a wide-eyed, panicked look, because I never actually considered it. But when Julian nods encouragingly, I add, “it does.”

“Oh, yay! Because you’re a lot more fun that Kris and Tay—”

“Who’s more fun than us?” Kris demands, her voice sounding faint and far away.

“No one!” Erin shouts. “I’ve got to go—”

“Wait!” I call after her. “Do you know when they’ll be back in Silver Springs?”

“Who?” Erin asks.

“The Montgomeries!”

“Oh, they’re not. I think they’re visiting some relatives in Australia.”

“What?” Julian cries.

“Who is?” Kris asks in the background.

“Who do we know with relatives who live in Australia?” Taylor adds.

“The Montgomeries,” Erin says. “But it might not be Australia. Mom told me about it when she got home, but I wasn’t paying attention. She was mostly telling me about Mrs. Montgomery’s hair stylist and how she wanted to set her son up with Kris.”

“She didn’t!” Kris cries in outrage.