Julie, you really have a talent for turning any recipe into a gourmet disaster

"Julie, run here!" I heard Sophie calling me in the kitchen.

I ran down the stairs and walked towards him. Everyone was present having coffee, even Jordan. Everyone looked at me with shining eyes, and it caused me butterflies in my belly at the same moment. Sophie approached me and handed me her cell phone, looked at my confused friend and asked what had happened. She just signaled me to look at the phone she had given me. As I focused my attention on the image in front of me, my heart quickened, and I looked at Jordan, but focused again on the phone screen. A video was made, and several reporters were present, trying to interview the person being accompanied by the police. That was my father, and the text highlighted on the screen said that John Smith, a very important business executive from California, was suspected of involvement with the sale of prohibited substances, and that he would be investigated by the police, because there was strong evidence that incriminated him of such an act.

"We did it," he whispered, and Sophie shook her head, smiling "Oh my God, it worked!" I said, and my friend hugged me.

"We need to run now, John has friends inside the police, and they can get him out when we least expect it," Sophie says, and I sign.

"When do we leave?" I asked and saw Jordan get up. He walked to me without a limp. He has improved a lot in recent days.

"Tonight, Ben got in touch with a friend of his who works at the border at night. He’ll let us through without any trouble." says my boyfriend, and I look at Ben.

"I can’t thank you enough, Ben, for everything you’ve done for us. Because of taking such a risk, I will never forget it," I said, and he smiled gratefully. "Thank you for your friendship, from the heart." I spoke gratefully.

"I’ll be here whenever you need me, as much as Tom," he says, referring to his partner.

"Can I help you organize your things?" asks Bella, making me smile at her.

"Sure, let’s go?" I raised my hand, and she came up to me holding it. I looked at Sophie, and she took my other hand and we walked upstairs.

My heart was beating wildly inside my chest as we walked up the stairs to my room. Sophie walked beside me, her face always showing determination, while Bella followed a little behind, her gaze lost in thoughts that I could not reach, but deep down I understood her and knew how out of place she was now, after finding out about her true parenthood. I bit my lips and tried to shake off any thought that led me to my father, and for a moment succeeded.

The crossing at the border would be a new journey, as much as we had already done when we came here, but I still felt insecure even with Ben ensuring that his friend would let us cross. We would leave tonight, and I needed to meticulously plan how we would do it. Uncertainty creeped into every corner of my mind. Sophie gave me a look of encouragement she knew, knew me like no one else and imagined what was going on in my mind at that moment. Her green eyes conveyed confidence even amid the tension that suddenly hovered in the air.

She was always my rock, my anchor in times of storm, and I knew I couldn’t do it without her by my side, before Jordan came and was everything to me. My best friend was my sanity, when my father left me adrift and aimless. Bella, in turn, kept her posture reserved, as if immersed in her own thoughts, but she was not that way because I knew her, lived with my half sister before we discovered the truth about our blood bond. Our relationship was never complicated, but there, after the discoveries, she felt that sometimes, she felt out of her bubble of protection.

We finally got to my room, and the air seemed to get lighter as we approached my only two suitcases scattered across the floor, with the help of Sophie and Bella, I started to organize my things and Jordan’s, folding clothes and making a mental list of what would lead and what would leave behind. Each gesture was a mixture of excitement and fear, a delicate dance between the desire to leave and the anguish to leave behind everything I knew. As we worked together, silence hovered over us, interrupted only by the occasional sigh or murmur of approval. There were no words capable of expressing the complexity of the emotions that enveloped us at that time, but somehow our silent complicity was enough to comfort us. And so, between half-closed suitcases and restrained sighs, we started talking about totally random things having fun like never before.

"And then, Bella, do you remember yesterday? When Julie first tried to cook on Ben’s stove and almost burned down the kitchen?" Sophie said, and we laughed. Yesterday we decided to prepare something special, but had never seen the model of Ben’s stove and when I lit the same, a huge fire came out.

"How could I forget? Yesterday was an unforgettable night. Julie, you really have a talent for turning any recipe into a gourmet disaster. Good at least to make noodles, you’re a disaster." says Bella, making me throw a pillow in her face. My sister laughs.

"Hey, it was just a little culinary mishap!" I spoke, but soon took a deep breath and decided to tell them something personal to them, something I’ve kept since childhood and never told anyone, because I knew how they would look at me, how they could feel sorry for me, and I did not want that, so I kept locking in my small world "But seriously now, I think it’s time to share some things with you. I want you two to be my equal friends, because I love you, so I need to tell you something." I tell them and they both sit down to me, "You know I’ve never been very good at telling all my secrets, but there’s something I need to tell them before we leave." I speak and Sophie looks at me worried.