Chapter Fifty-One

Anumber flashes on my screen that I don't recognize. I want to do the typical millennial thing and ignore it, but something in me tells me to answer it.

"Hello?" I ask hesitantly.

"Alison, this is Juliet Stiles." The wind gets knocked out of me for a second. "I'm calling in regards to Archer."

I try not to laugh at what she said. I was starting to forget how smart she is. "Oh, hi, Juliet. How are you doing?"

"I'm not here to chit-chat. I'd like to make an appointment to speak to you in person about Archer. Is this something you can do?"

My mouth drops open. I pull the phone away from my ear for a second and stare at it. Then I put it back and finally answer. "Um, yeah, sure, let's set that up."

There's a small knock at the door. I take a deep breath, having no idea what to expect from this. I plaster a smile on my face and open the door into the unknown.

"Juliet!" I sing out. I pause for a second, not sure if I should give her a hug, and then decide to reach for her. She sticks her hand out in front of her for a handshake instead. I hesitantly take her hand and return the shake.

"Thank you for meeting with me," she states in a serious tone as she walks into the room. "Dad dropped me off. He's waiting downstairs for me, so this has to be quick."

"Uh, no problem," I say closing the door and following her in. "So, what can I help you with?"

She quickly turns and locks her gaze on me. "We need to have a discussion about what you did to Archer."

"Oh, yeah, okay. Well what exactly do you already know?" I push my bangs back.

"That's the problem. I don't know anything. No one wants to talk about it. I know you broke his heart though. Seems like you might have ripped it out of his chest and stomped on it, too. That's still up for debate though." My heart falls into my stomach at her words because I know she's right. "He's miserable."

I nod my head. "Does he, uh, know that you're here?"

"No, he doesn't. I offered to have words with you. Even offered to do more." She holds her fists up at me like she's ready to fight. "But he told me no." She drops her hands. "I would though if he wanted me to."

I nod, again. "Oh I know you would. I'm glad you're not though. And I'm sorry that you feel like you need to."

Juliet dramatically throws herself on the couch. "I just want to know what happened. It makes me so mad that no one will talk to me about it."

I gently sit down next to her. "I understand."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So what happened?"

"Well, I, uh," I stumble over my words. "I mean, you're right. I did break up with him."

Juliet's eyes sadden but she holds my gaze. "And why would you do that? I thought you liked him a lot. I thought you liked me," she states pointing to herself.

I grab her hands. "Oh, Juliet, I do. I like you a lot. And Archer. More than you guys even know."

She flies up off the couch as her face turns into a mask of anger. "Then why did you do this? Why did you leave us?"

I stand up next to her. "Jules, it's so complicated." I grab her hands again but this time she pulls away.

"Then make it less complicated," she demands.

"I wish I could," I drop my eyes.

"You can. It's easy. Do you care about me?"

I nod.

"Do you care about Archer?"

I nod again.

"Ok, then problem, solved."

"Juliet, I wish it was that easy."

Next thing I know, her hands are on either side of my face and she's pulling my face down until we are nose to nose. "Listen here," she says, "It is that easy. If you care about people, then you need to be with them. I know I'm not an adult. I know I've never had a boyfriend." She sticks her tongue out in disgust. "But I know enough to know that you stay with the people you care about. My mom loved us and she didn't have a choice to stay with us, but you do. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I nod my head and then put my hands on top of hers. I gently pull away from her. I don't say anything though. She looks down for a second and then back up at me.

"Do you love him?" she asks shyly.

My mouth drops in shock. This is probably the boldest child I have ever met. I give her props though. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. Not to mention she clearly has so much love for her brother. I struggle with what to say for a second.

"I do," I whisper not believing that I just admitted that for the first time to Archer's little sister. Whatever though, I'm done understanding my feelings and brain at this point.

She puts her hands on her hips. "Well, good then, because I know for a fact he loves you, too. I think it's time we get you guys back together."

My eyes snap up to hers. I mean clearly I heard him say that the night I had a flare up but I wasn't for sure if it was real. I was so out of it. And then he didn't really say anything afterwards. I think he tried to say it but I stopped him. To actually hear it out loud from her, makes my heart dance. I'm secretly praying for it to be real. By the way my heart feels like it's trying to beat out of my chest right now, I guess I've made up my mind.

I nod. "I think you're right."

Juliet's eyes light up. "You know, I'm right almost all of the time, yet people always seem to be surprised by it."

I laugh. "I guess we need to stop underestimating you, huh?"

"Yep," she answers, crossing her arms over her chest again. "Now we need a plan."

"Well, I think I may just have the start of one," I state.

She puts her hands together and taps her fingers like an evil villain from a spy movie. "Excellent," she says drawing out the word.

"Do you think you could get Archer to watch the Este Show on Wednesday at 2:00 pm?" I ask, hopeful.

"I can get that guy to do anything I ask," she answers without hesitation.

I put my hands together and tap my fingers. "Excellent," I say in perfect imitation of her.