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Amber Stevens: Don’t jump to conclusions about Ash’s kiss with Rusty

If the new season of “Greek” had a theme song (with actual words), it could very well be Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” And while the Cyprus crew might not actually know who that is, the man’s message will ring clear throughout the next ten episodes — which kick off tonight … at graduation!

Yep! Someone accidentally sat on the fast-forward button, skipping ahead to Casey, Ashleigh and Evan’s big day — which, in turns, sees each of them move onward and upward! Well, sorta. For her part Ash heads to NYC for an internship with ‘trendmaster’ Faith Flowers. Devotees will recall that she is Ashleigh’s Fairy Jobmother.

But like many wishes, things don’t go as planned when NYC turns out to be very different from the city “Friends” has led Ashleigh to believe. That’s just one of the upcoming developments actress Amber Stevens teased when we talked about the new season. And don’t think I let her off without talking about that random Rusty liplock!

PopWrap: Where do we find Ashleigh at the start of tonight’s episode?

Amber Stevens: She’s in NYC working for Faith Flowers as an unpaid intern alone in the city trying to be a grown-up for the first time – and it’s totally not working out [laughs].

PW: Does she think it’s going to be just like “Friends?”

Amber: [laughs] Exactly! She definitely did. A lot of people have that misconception — as if New York City is like what we see on TV. Everyone lives in quaint apartments and the weather is always nice. It’s nothing like that. Which Ashleigh learns really quick.

PW: The trailer shows her back at CRU though …

Amber: Eventually, yes. I don’t think it would have been practical l to have everyone stay in Cyprus, so it made sense for her to leave and try something else out while people stay for school or grad school. But eventually, Ashleigh will find her way back to her friends.

PW: Was there something you wanted for Ashleigh at the star of this year?

Amber: I really wanted her to become, and slowly this has happened through the seasons, but I hoped she would become an individual. Find her footing in life. In the beginning she was doing what other people told her to do, she didn’t really know what she wanted for herself. So I was really hoping they would finally make her a strong woman going into the world and carving out her place.

PW: And yet she ends up kissing Rusty — is that “her place?”

Amber: Oh, well, I don’t know about that. There’s a kiss but that doesn’t mean they’re together. There are many circumstances where people make out but don’t date.

PW: So fans shouldn’t take that at face value?

Amber: No, definitely don’t. There’s a lot that happens to make it a lot more interesting than that. Is anything ever that simple?

PW: I dunno, I secretly suspect Ash would do anything to become Casey’s sister.

Amber: [laughs] That actually might be a little bit of it – any way to get into the Cartwright family!

PW: For me, one of the most rewarding relationships on the show has been between Casey and Ashleigh.

Amber: Oh, absolutely. Their relationship has had more ups and downs than any of the actual romances. Those come and go. This is a real relationship.

PW: Will it be smooth sailing this year?

Amber: Their friendship is tested yet again – they thought they’d go separate ways, but find themselves together and a lot of things go down that make them unsure if they’re meant to be lifelong friends. It’s that struggle a lot of people go through – you get really close to someone over four years, they become family, then you go out into the real world and move away from one another. Next thing you know, you’re not friends anymore. That’s the struggle they have this season.

PW: Is there one particular episode you’re looking forward to the audience seeing?

Amber: We have an episode that we’ve dubbed the “Breakfast Club” episode, where the eight of us, for the first time, are all in the same place for pretty much the whole episode. That was a lot of fun to shoot. There’s been a lot of friendships throughout the show, but the characters are not all friends with one another, so to get to work with everyone at once was so fun. Like a big party for those weeks. Everybody all stuck in one place together.

“Greek” premieres tonight at 9pm on ABC Family

Photo: ABC Family