"Where is she?" 

Amber froze on the stairs, then raced down them and threw herself into her big sister's arms. The taller girl lifted her up, swung her around, then threw her on the floor. 

"Ow!" 

Jackie laughed and crouched over her. "Hey, dork." 

"Jackie," Amber whined trying to get up, but Jackie pinned her down with a foot. 

"Leave your sister alone," Mr. Liu said, sounding exhausted even though they'd all been in the room together for all of five minutes. Jackie had that affect on people. Amber often wondered if she got all of her energy from it out of other people. 

"What are you doing here?" Amber pouted, wondering why she'd considered that she might miss her big sister even a little bit. Had she completely forgotten what she was like?

Jackie guffawed, stepped back and offered Amber a hand up. She was yanked out her feet by her much larger older sister and stumbled once she had her feet under her. 

"You haven't called in a while. I wanted to check on you." She looked around. "I saw nothing but trees and bible quotes on the way into town. Freaked me out." 

Amber nearly laughed but before she knew it, she was in tears and pressing her face into her sister's shoulder. 

Jackie raised her brows and focused on her parents who both looked at each other then held each other close. 

"Who do I need to beat up?" 

~

Krystal sat in the living room waiting for Shin Hye to arrive. She had no idea what they would talk about, but she felt like she was losing her mind being so isolated with only her parents and the occasional meetings with Gavin and the pastor for company. 

"I'll go make you two some snacks," her mom said, leaving the room. 

Krystal let out a breath she hadn't even been aware she was holding. She remembered just a few months ago when she would lean into her mother's side when they were alone together watching a movie or reading a book.  Now she couldn't imagine wanting to be that close to her again. Her parents told her they still loved her despite everything, but how could they? They didn't know her and didn't want to. 

She felt her chest heaving and tried to relax. 

The doorbell rang and she hopped to her feet. 

"I'll get it," she called out. 

She rushed to the door. She never knew how amazing it felt to have the power to open or close your own door. She took just a little bit of that back even though she couldn't go anywhere but back to the living room and Shin Hye and her mother entered. She reached out to hug her friend, but Shin Hye's mother gave her such a fierce scowl she stepped back, her shoulders drooping. 

"Oh, you're here," Mrs. Jung said, coming into the entryway, a plate of carved fruit in her hands. "Let's go sit in the living room. I have a few magazines to look over for Krystal's wedding and wanted your opinion." She didn't get any response and her smile faultered as she ushered them all to sit, placing the fruit on the coffee table. 

Shin Hye sat beside