“I'm going to hang up now," she said quietly."Fine.""Good-bye, Ian," she said.He paused again. She thought she heard something like a sniff or a choke, but it was probably the sound of him tearing up his plane ticket. "Good-bye, Amy."She hung up the phone: Dan and Nellie were quiet."Well, think about it," said Dan. "Did you really want Natalie Kabra as a sister-in-law?”

“Dan was doing his best Ian Kabra impersonation, looking around the store as though inspecting it for cockroaches. Amy tried to turn her snort of laughter into a cough."Espresso?" The saleswoman materialized seemingly out of nowhere. Amy realized that the full-length mirror on the wall was actually a door.If she were Amy Cahill, she would blush and shake her head no, just because she didn't want to cause any bother. She imagined what Natalie Kabra would do."Tea. Darjeeling," she said in a curt tone."Oh, not Darjeeling, sis," Dan said. "That's just so middle class.""Lapsang souchong?" the saleswoman asked."I just adored his last collection," Dan said.The woman's tight smile dimmed. "That's a tea.”

“Time’s Flying,” said Dad. He Smiled. He pointed to the air. “There it is, flying past! Catch it!” And he jumped, and caught Time in his hands, and showed it to Lizzie. She took it from him, and threw it up again.“There it goes,” she called. “Bye-bye. Bye-bye, Time!”

“We need you to go out there and cover for us while we search for whoever's bugging us," Amy said. "Whoever it is, he or she is probably nearby.""All you have to do is keep talking. We've thought a lot about this, and we think you have the necessary skills," Dan said."Very funny, Dan-o. But true. When it comes to nonstop chat, I'm the champ," Nellie agreed.Nellie turned off the shower and they all returned to the main room."That pool is so fine," she said, as if she'd never been interrupted. "I met this couple from Scotland, and I was all, whoa, you have some delish smoked salmon in your excellent country...."Amy raised the window carefully, not making a sound. She and Dan quietly climbed out."--and they were all, 'Aye, lassie, we dew, ye ken our bonny fish, ye dew!'" Nellie said in a terrible Scottish accent. "So I said, 'You know what ye lads and lassies need in Scotland? Bagels! To go with!' 'Whoa,' they said, 'lassie, ye canna be serious, that is one orrrig-in-al guid idea....'""Okay, you can stop now.""Man, that's guid news," Nellie said. "This lassie is about to pass out.”

“Amy felt her phone vibrate. She held it up. It was from Ian.DON'T ASK THE PRICE OF ANYTHING. DON'T SMILE. DON'T SAY "DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING CHEAPER?" DON'TAmy shoved the phone back in her pocket. "Just pretend to be Ian," she told Dan.”

“Just then he noticed that Amy had that look, as though she wanted the street to buckle and split so she could fall right in. Dan saw the cool crowd from her school hanging at a table in the front. So that was why she didn't want to go in. Evan Tolliver was at the head of the table. Dan sighed. Even, the human supercomputer, was Amy's dream crush. Whenever Evan was near, she got her stutter back. "Oh, excuse me, I didn't notice Luke Skywalker," Dan said. "Or is it Darth Vader?" "Shhh," Amy said. Her cheeks were red. "He's coming." "You mean Evan Tolliver himself is about to set his foot on the sidewalk? Did you bring the rose petals?" "Cut it out, dweeb!" Amy said fiercely. "Hi, Amy," Evan said from behind her. Amy's color went from summer rose to summer tomato. She shot Dan a look that told him he was in serious trouble. "Hey, Evan," he said. "I'm Amy's little brother, Dweeb. Nice to meet you, man.”