Bounded Souls

5.

It'd been two full days since Solana was back home. She would've never guessed that she would be back in the city, much less her old room. But there she was, lying in her bed with her eyes trained on the TV in front of her. She'd been staring at the TV for hours without taking in what she was watching.

The sun was now up compared to the sunrise when she had woken up initially.

Her eyes searched around the dark room before she turned off the TV and slid out of the bed. She walked over to the window and slid the curtains apart to let in some sunlight. She walked into the bathroom and began her hygiene routine.

Quickly, Solana slipped on sweatpants and a mock white t-shirt. As she checked her high bun in the mirror to make sure that it was in the middle, she paused her movements at the sound of dishes clattering from downstairs.

She rushed down the stairs and entered the kitchen to see Sherrie picking up a few bowls from the ground. She placed them back in the cabinet and cleared her throat. She rested her hands against her hips and sighed heavily.

"I would've never expected myself to be in the kitchen."

"Me either," Solana walked over to her with a light smile. She peeked over into the pan that was on the stove and looked at her cousin with her eyes squinted.

"Yes, those are chocolate chip pancakes. I wanted to be a bit nostalgic."

As kids, Solana and Sherrie were addicted to pancakes and wouldn't stop eating them for breakfast. They weren't just any pancakes, they were Vivian's homemade pancakes. Due to Solana always being in the kitchen with her grandmother, she was able to kind of figure out the recipe. There was still at least one ingredient that she missed, but Vivian promised her that she would never know.

"I know that it's not gonna be the best-"

"Let's have some hope."

Solana grabbed herself a plate and placed a pancake onto the plate. She drizzled it with syrup and placed some butter on it. Sherrie placed her thumb between her teeth and watched as her cousin took a hesitant bite. She cleared her throat and leaned against the counter.

Suddenly, Solana choked on the pancake and rushed to the garbage to spit it out.

Sherrie laughed loudly. "Is it that bad?"

"Overloading the pancakes with chocolate chips doesn't hide the fact that you poured tons of baking soda in it."

"You know I'm heavy handed," Sherrie chuckled.

Sherrie was never one for the kitchen. She wasn't bad at cooking, but baking and measurements were not her thing. Growing up with their grandmother, she had no choice but to be in the kitchen. But if it wasn't something that she cared about making then she didn't care to know how to make it.

Solana grabbed the dry ingredients from the cabinet and rested them on the counter.

"What are you doing?"

"We're gonna make it again and we're going to do it properly."

Sherrie shook her head with a smile and smacked Solana's butt with the mini towel. She connected her phone to the bluetooth speaker in the kitchen and started her playlist.

-

The two cousins sat next to each other at the dinner table with their plates filled with pancakes, eggs and turkey bacon.

"The eggs are really good, Sherrie," Solana sighed with content as she took a bite.

"I'm glad that's the only thing I didn't fuck up." Sherrie snorted, "But, your hands are still blessed, Solana. This is so good."