Kapitel 36: Cousins

Emily was embarrassed for breaking down in front of Justin like that but he never brought it up and treated her like usual. Well…not quite like usual. He talked to her a lot more. Asked her questions and got into discussions about various topics on the way to school. It was like a dam had broken and his personality was finally flooding out.

At first she had been worried about a six hour drive with someone who didn't talk much but after a week's worth of rides to and from school where he actually engaged in non-small talk conversation with her she was actually looking forward to it. What all would they be able to talk about in six hours? At this point she was more worried about what his family would think of bringing a random friend home.

"You ready to go?" Justin asked as he reached for her suitcase. "You remembered to pack warm, right? The Bay Area is a lot colder than here because it's right on the ocean."

"Yes, Mom," she teased. She held up the floppy, too big sleeves of the sweater she was wearing as proof.

As she got into the car she immediately went for the compartment that usually held CDs. She wanted to see what kind of music they would be listening to on the trip. To her surprise, it was completely empty aside from a squashed pack of gum.

"Do you not listen to music?" she asked in disbelief.

Justin blushed. "Not in the car. I usually listen to music online so I don't own much. There might be something in the glove box."

Emily checked and sure enough, there was a single CD. It was a collection of country-style nursery rhymes. She held it up wordlessly for him to see at the next stoplight.

"…that's my cousin's. I have no idea how long it's been in there."

"Well, it's all we've got. Unless you feel like jamming to the Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'll pull out my phone."

"Good idea," he said lamely.

Emily put on a playlist of her 25 most listened to songs and was too busy singing and sometimes dancing along to notice Justin's soft smile at her antics. The first hour and a half passed quickly this way but by the time the playlist ended her vocal chords had reached their limit. Stupidly, she hadn't brought a water bottle. She would have to get one when they stopped for lunch.

"You're a good singer," Justin said conversationally.

"Thanks! I get a little too into it sometimes," she said sheepishly. "My mom, my sister, and I are all singers. Every Christmas we go caroling when we deliver cookie plates to people. I'm the melody, my sister is the lower harmony, and my mom is the higher harmony. My brother doesn't sing but he plays guitar so there's always music at my house."

"That sounds fun. My house is pretty quiet. My parents are social and like going out with people so it's usually me, my keyboard, and Cookie against the world."

"Will I get to see Cookie?" she asked, excited. She really missed her cats back home. She hadn't seen them since flying home for spring break.

He laughed and shook his head. "We're going to my aunt's, remember? Cookie is safely at home being fed by my old neighbor. But I'm sure my mom has a bunch of pictures to show me. She especially likes taking ones where he's getting into my stuff and saying 'ooh, look how much he misses you!'"

Emily lost it at his impression of his mom. The voice was terrible. She was still laughing after several minutes and Justin looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"Come on, it wasn't that funny."

"Yes it was," she wheezed before finally calming down. "I had no idea you had the heart of an imitator."

He rolled his eyes. "Please. If anyone I know has the heart of an imitator it's Sam."

"She's into imitations?"

"You should hear her impression of me," Justin said dryly. "It's terrible but her sisters think it's spot on."

She snickered, thinking the sisters were probably right. "I guess I'll have to judge it for myself someday."

"She'll probably do it for you this weekend if you ask."

For an unknown reason, Emily's heart sunk. "Samantha's going to be there too?"

Justin looked over at her with a funny look on his face. "Didn't I tell you? Her mom is the one hosting the dinner."

Her nose scrunched up in confusion. "I thought your aunt was—wait are you telling me that Samantha's your cousin?!"

"Yeah, she's three years younger than me but we're still the closest in age so we're tight," he explained. "Who did you think she was?"

"Nobody," Emily denied, her ears turning pink.

His cousin! She had thought Samantha was his girlfriend! Wracking her brain, she tried to remember if the word 'girlfriend' had ever actually been used. They had certainly seemed close…there was hugging and teasing…talk of a double date…but no definitive mention of being boyfriend and girlfriend. She felt like an idiot.

"Sam likes messing with people," Justin muttered. "Don't hold it against her, okay? She's really great, I promise."

Knowing that Samantha was his cousin changed Emily's entire perspective on the girl. No wonder they didn't seem anything alike. It was normal for polar opposite family members to be close, where it didn't make as much sense as a couple.

"I'm sure she is," she said.

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