Intermission 17: Julia Miller.

One last chance.

That’s what her mother surprisingly asked for and what she and Emily agreed to. She gets one last chance to make up for how she’s been acting all these years. Is the Affection Multiplier what’s making them believe her and agree to it? Well, it doesn’t really matter, because Julia knows herself well enough to be sure that if her mother returns to her old lifestyle, her chance is gone.

To prove that she was being serious, she told them she’d already broken up with Jonathan Walker, saying that relationship really was going nowhere. She supposes that’s good, and she can’t imagine that playboy being too heartbroken about it. He probably already found himself a new girlfriend.

And thinking of Jonathan makes her thing of David.

God, he’s a scary kid! He might have gotten himself a harem using those magic powers, but truth is he’s scary despite those. He said they don’t work on people who also have the app, right? Yet in a single conversation he was able to make their mother have such a radical change of heart.

How did that conversation go? What did he tell her? Their mother didn’t say much, only that he told her things she needed to hear, things she’d forgotten over the years. She hadn’t seen her that **** and weak since her father died. Yet there was a hint of a fire that wasn’t there that time. Maybe she’s just being hopeful and seeing things that aren’t there, but she believes their mother really will make a change for the better.

And that’s what makes David scary. He was able to understand Susan so quickly. He read her like a book and pushed the exact buttons to make her realize what she was doing. And Julia is so incredibly thankful to him for that. She pushed her family problems on him, yet instead of pushing back, he simply stepped in and fixed them.

Her mother is speaking to them with honesty and warmth that she hadn’t felt in years. It’s nostalgic, and it makes Julia realize just how hard their father’s **** affected her. She sighs heavily. Maybe getting boyfriends was her way to cope, and Julia just never realized it. Maybe she was at fault, too, for not having seen it.

But enough of that. This is a new stage in their life. Their mother will try to live differently, and that won’t be easy, but she and Emily will be there to support her.

But there’s another thing she realized with this whole ordeal.

David Walker is definitely a keeper.

For someone so young, he’s definitely a mature one. It makes her think that those stories Emily told her about David’s father are actually true and that the son inherited some of that genius.

Because again, even if he managed to get a harem using magic powers, he’s still been able to maintain it with minimal issues. She confronted Emma and Mia directly about it, and they both said they’d rather be found out and fired than stop that relationship. They were so sure of it, too, almost daring her to go to the headmistress.

And so, with a question to her sister, Julia makes her decision.

“Hey Em, David is up for another girlfriend, right?”

That seems to stun her little sister sitting on her couch next to her.

“Eh?”

Julia doesn’t elaborate. She just keeps a casual expression as she waits for the question to settle in. The sound of the TV on the wall playing a music concert fills the silent space that settles for that short while.

“Are you serious?” Emily asks, not reproachful, but with honest interest.

“I think so.” Julia nods nonchalantly. Oh wow. Why is her heart pounding faster?

“You wouldn’t think it’s weird?” Emily asks again. “You know, the two of us dating the same guy?”

“Would you?” Julia asks back.

“…No, not really. It could be fun.” Emily nods to herself.

“I think so too.” Wow. Julia really is getting excited at the prospect. She hears Emily take a deep breath and turns to look at her. She’s looking at her, as well.

“We’re going to see each other naked. You realize that, right?”

“Getting direct, aren’t you?” Julia grins.

Her sister shrugs. “I want you to understand what you’d be getting into. Things can and will get wild.” There’s a blush rising to her cheeks, but her voice doesn’t falter.

“That sounds right up my alley, Em.” Julia smirks. “I guess I’ve never told you, but I’ve been in two threesomes before.”

That makes Emily raise an eyebrow. And Julia is surprised at herself, too. It’s odd to hear herself speaking with her sister so openly about their sex life. She’s far from a prude, but this is her little sister. Though it’s not like there’s a point to hiding anything.

“When was this?”

“College can get wild at times, too.” She chuckles.

“Two girls or two guys?” Emily swallows.

“Both. It was more fun with two girls, though. The guys I was with got too competitive.”

“So you…” Emily trails off, but Julia knows what she wants to ask.

“Kind of.” She nods. “I wouldn’t JUST date a girl, but I like threesomes.”

“It’s not just going to be threesomes.” Emily admits.

“Huh. So my little sister’s been doing naughty things with her friends?”

“…Basically one-man orgies.”

“Oh my God!” Julia laughs. Of course, she didn’t doubt something like that was going on, but it’s so weird to hear it from her sister’s mouth. “And he can handle it?”

“Perfectly.”

“My God, Em!” She keep laughing, and Emily starts laughing with her. “If I didn’t know how serious you all are about this, I’d be soooo worried about you.”

“Come on! You know I wouldn’t be in this deep if I wasn’t serious!”

“I know, which is why I’m not THAT worried. He treats you well, right?”

The beaming smile on Emily’s face both warms her heart and makes her jealous. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

Man, she wants something like that for herself.

“So? Answer my question. Would be he up for another girlfriend?”

“He would. He was planning on asking you out before all this happened.” Emily grins.

“Was he really?” Julia is slightly surprised. “Huh. I don’t know if I would’ve said yes before. I was worried about too many things. Still am, to be honest.”

“You’ll fit right in.” Emily nods, then grins teasingly. “You won’t be the only old lady.”

“Who’re you calling an old lady?” Julia laughs loudly. If they were both younger, she would’ve trapped Emily’s neck under her arm, playing wrestling, but they seem too old for that now.

The two of them let their laughter die down naturally, and after the silence sets, Emily says what Julia thinks has been in both of their minds.

“We’re gonna see each other naked.” She repeats, simply stating it as a fact. One Julia obviously has to agree with.

“Yeah.” She nods.

“We… we’re gonna have sex with the same guy.”

“Yeah.”

“At the same time, most likely.”

“Yeah.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Does it bother YOU?” She feels immature, throwing the question back at her little sister. But she would rather know Emily’s opinion, first.

Emily pushes her eyebrows together. “It’s weird. It bothers me that it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought. I used to think about it, back when David first admitted he liked you, and I really did think it was weird. But now that we’re talking… I don’t know, it just doesn’t.”

“You boyfriend didn’t do anything to us, did he?”

“I’d bet everything he didn’t.” Emily nods firmly. “So it doesn’t bother you either?”

“I’ve always been very open-minded, I guess.” Julia shrugs. “I like the thought of you and I fooling around with the same guy. It’s as if we were playing a soccer match together, only 10 times more exciting and infinitely naughtier.” She giggles.

“I get you.” Emily giggles as well. “Is that… ****?”

“Does it even matter?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you want to make out with me?”

Emily raises an eyebrow. “Not if David’s not here to watch. Feels kind of pointless.”

“There’s your answer then.” Julia nods with a confident, wide smile. She spreads her arms and Emily goes to her. They both share a tight, warm and strictly familial hug.

She’s always been close to Emily, and she can only see this as something that will let them grow even closer.