A/N: Heyyy, lovely readers! ^_~ Sorry I haven't updated a (real) chapter in a while; I was totally at loss on how to reel NU'EST back in. Now I got chapter 9 and 10 ready to roll. I'm not sure that I'll update chapter 10 tonight because I like to have a chapter ready when I run dry of ideas ^^; And, no, JR and his crew don't show up in this chapter but in the next one, I promise.

Enjoy!~

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"Amber, will you pay attention for once?!"

She's practically hyperventilating. "I just can't - can't believe that they're - HERE! JR'S HERE!!" Amber's glowing. "And . . . that means SO IS -!" I pull her hair and she looks at me like she's surprised by my presence. Then she narrows her eyes. "Oh. Yah. So you were saying? You magically crash into them at the mall yesterday -" Amber's eyes go wide for the tenth time in five minutes. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I roll my eyes. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TOO, AMBER!" I scream back. "Gosh, can we stop with the spontaneous wish already, girl?? I DID have a happy birthday and I'm not mad at you for missing it - YOU NEVER CAME TO THE LAST FOUR, so it's not like I didn't expect it."

Amber sticks her lower lip out enough to be a shelf. I give her a stern look. "Don't you dare apologize again . . . Look, I hate missing your birthday too," I say. Amber sighs and shakes her hair. I sigh too. It's getting a little chilly in the shady corner of the yard despite the heat. But over here no one can hear us and Justin Bieber isn't screaming that "all around the world, people want to be loo-ooved". (Well, duh, JB; a guy is a guy and stupid girls fall for evil manipulative good-looking guys even in the Arctic). I glance down at my phone. The picture of me and JR makes me blush. I get back on topic.

Linking arms with Amber we stroll the perimeter of the backyard. "Amber, you love me, right?" I start.

"Better than red velvet cupcakes," she readily replies. She always says this when she hears a favor waiting to be asked from me. I say, "Is anything going on between you and JongHyun?"

Amber glanced at me, her eyes confused. "Who? Ohhhh! - JR? Sorry for the brain fart there for a second; I'm so used to hearing everyone calling him by his stage name. But, yah! Definitely! Oh, gosh, he was my partner in crime; we did almost everything together! And MinHyun - omo! - he's sweeter than rice cakes. I clicked with Aron really well, too, since we're both from the U.S. Now BaekHo got on my nerrrves a whole lot with his teasing -"

"Amber."

"- but we're totally cool. But JR is my homie! Eek! He's just so kind and modest and wants to help promote NU'EST anyway he can and he's shy; well, they're all shy -"

"Amber!"

"Huh?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes in exasperation. Clearly she didn't understand my question. "Let me rephrase that question - God, Mighty Lord, Amber you're ridiculous: IS JR AVAILABLE?"

Amber blinks.

Then she bursts out laughing. I stand next to her with my arms crossed and a bit peeved. What the hell?? When Amber recovers she wraps her arms around my neck. I hug her waist. "JR's never even had his first kiss yet," she breathes in my ear. This interests me; even I had my first kiss. Some guy took it at a party during spin-the-bottle. "They're all innocent as puppies and as single as can be." I smile and squeeze her tight. We pull back and I squeal and can't help but bounce in place. Amber laughs at my relief. She starts to walk away back towards the party but then she turns around and is suddenly in my ear again. "But MinKi is minnne," she says lowly and rushes back to the pool. I blink. Wait - what?!

See, Amber is biual. I remember when she told me in seventh grade. She was telling me about this one friend of hers and brought her up frequently for weeks. One night we were on the phone and she brought her up again. I don't remember the details; just the fact that she told me to hang up so she could text me something so she wouldn't have to say it out loud in a car full of her family. Her text came through two minutes later. I deleted it as soon as I reached the last word and called her back.

"Yes . . . ?" she answered tentatively.

"AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!"

I felt that my side of the conversation the rest of the night was forced and awkward - was there a certain way I was suppose to treat Amber now that I knew she was bi? A different way to speak to her? The next day at school I was a bit nervous around her too. The only thing that ran through my mind was, AmberisbiAmberisbiAmberisbi. But I was comfortable with my best friend within hours. She was still - and always will be - Amber Steele.

About a week later, her friend we've been talking about asked Amber out. Amber came to me immediately. Within days, Amber got herself a girlfriend. Amber was content. She's as loyal as a man's best friend and was completely smitten with her partner. That was several months before Amber went to Korea. To my knowledge, they had still ben going out even then.

So Why the sudden claim and chase for Ren??

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A/N: Yep, so Amber's bi. Sorry again for not updating sooner; I'll probably have the next chapter up tomorrow night. Don't give up on me: NU'EST returns! ^_~