Ryan had just gotten out of the shower when the phone rang. She ran over to grab it, still soaking wet and covered in nothing but a towel. "Hello?"
"Ryan?"
"Bright?"
"Did you just call here?" he asked, in an angry tone.
"No," Ryan replied. "I just got out of the shower. Why?"
"Well, someone did, and now Amy's upstairs in her room crying."
"Well, it wasn't me. Bright can you hold on for like two minutes? I need to put clothes on." Ryan placed the phone down on her dresser as she dried herself off. She went into her drawers and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She threw on her clothes. She went over to her dresser and grabbed the gel. She took a little bit and just scrunched her curls a little bit. There was no use straightening it or putting color in it. She walked back over and picked the phone up.
"Okay, sorry, I'm back."
"Is there anyone else there?"
"Yea, Ephram's here," Ryan said. And then it hit her. Ephram had called Amy and told her about them. "Okay, wow this makes sense now. It was Ephram, and I bet I know what he told her. Bright, Ephram and I are together now."
"It's about freaking time," Bright said.
"What?" Ryan said with a laugh.
"Colin and I had a bet on how long it would take for you guys to get together," Bright replied. "Okay, now I know why Amy's crying. I'm going to talk to her. Hey, Ryan?"
"Yea?"
"Be good to Ephram," Bright said, with sincerity. "He's been through a lot."
Ryan smiled. Bright wasn't as stupid or as mean as everything thought. "I will."
And with that, Bright hung up the phone. He made his way up the stairs and to Amy's closed door. He could hear her crying through the door, and he knocked. "Amy, it's me. Look, I know why you're crying, so you might as well open up."
"Just go away."
"No," Bright said sternly. He placed his hand on the doorknob and turned. She hadn't locked it. He pushed open the door and saw his baby sister curled up in her bed.
"I thought I said to go away."
"You did. And I said no." Bright walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. "Look, Amy, you have to let Ephram go."
"You don't know what you're talking about. I don't like Ephram. I love Colin."
"Yes, you love Colin, but part of you is wrapped up in the idea of Ephram. Amy, you have to stop being selfish, you can't have both. And you're not going to lose him to Ryan. He's still going to be there for you as your friend. Why do you think he's hung around with us? It's not because of me, that's for sure; you know we aren't best friends. He's stayed because of you. He knows you'd want him to be there too. But, you've got to let him go. He deserves to be happy too."
Amy sat up, her sobs had stopped. For once, her brother said something that made sense. "I just, I just, I wasn't ready for this."
"Yea, well, be happy for him. Don't lose him as a friend because you're jealous you can't have two guys at once."
Amy looked down and sighed. "You're right."
Bright raised an eyebrow and gave a half grin. "Did you just say I'm right?"
Amy smiled. "I did."
"I think the world is changing, Amy," Bright said sarcastically. "Now you gonna be okay?"
Amy nodded, "Yea. Thanks Bright."
"It's nothing. I'm your brother. It's what I do," Bright replied. "Now, Sponge Bob is on, so I'm going to go back downstairs."
Amy laughed. Her brother hadn't changed that much, but she saw forms of maturity starting to show through. She laid back down and glanced over to the pictures on her nightstand. There was one of her and Colin, and the other one was one of Ephram at one of his piano recitals. Just because Bright told her what she had to do, didn't mean she was going to. And the tears came back as she rolled over. A part of her heart was broken, and there was no repairing that.
