Hold It In

Separated

I walked in the room and saw a woman next to Ms. Danielle. "Hey", I greeted. Ms. Danielle smiled and led me to the other woman who looked about 25.

"This is Ms. Garcia", she smiled ushering me closer. I held my hand out, "I'm Sydney." She smiled and took my hand. "You can call me Lillian."

I nodded and turned to Ms. Danielle. "Is she adopting someone?" I asked politely. She exchanged a look with Lillian. "Yes", Ms. Danielle said slowly. "You."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "You're kidding right?" Lillian smiled at me, "You'll be fine with us, I promise. It's just me and my parents and we'll treat you very well."

I shook my head, "No. I'm not coming with you and you can't force me to." Ms. Danielle gave me a stern look. "You're going, Sydney", she said strictly.

"You can't force me to do something that I don't want to do", I spat. She gave me a cold hard look. "You're going whether you like it or not", she said calmly. I was going to protest until she cut me off. "That's final."

I laughed coldly, "No. I'm not going with her. I don't want to. I'm not leaving Emma. Oh and guess what? I'm dating Juan Karlos and I'm not leaving him either!" I yelled.

Lillian smiled at me and tried to take my hand. Ms. Danielle looked really disappointed. "You are going. Don't make me say it again, say goodbye to your friends because you're leaving tomorrow."

I shook my head and ran out the door. I headed straight for Juan Karlos' house. I couldn't believe this, we were just reunited in such a special way and now we were being separated already.

"Juan Karlos!" I banged on his door. It opened quickly with a worried Juan Karlos and I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Woah", he breathed out. "That was unexpected. What happened?" He asked.

Tears were running down my face as I tried to explain to him what was happening. "I'm being adopted", I said quietly. He smiled enthusiastically and held my hands. "That's great! You'll have a new family!"

I shook my head, "No you don't understand. I'm leaving!" I cried.

He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck, very attractively if I may. Yeah, not a very good time to be such a teenage girl. "You're kidding."

I bit my lip nervously, "I tried to fight Juan Karlos I really did, but they won't budge!"

"I'm leaving tomorrow", I whispered. He held me tight in his arms and I sobbed right into his shirt. "But you're my best friend, my girlfriend, the only person who ever really cared", he stuttered.

I cried even more if that was even possible and pulled away a little. "I'll come back, I promise", I said quickly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't promise me something you can't keep", he said a bit too harshly.

I wipe my tears and nodded. I backed away slowly from the doorway and smiled at him a little. "I'll miss you."

He closed the door and more tears came running down my face. I guess it was time to go to Emma and Darren.

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"Congrats", Emma whispered weakly. She looked even paler than earlier and I hugged her tighter. "I'll see you at your wedding", I playfully winked at Darren.

He smiled and wiped a bit of his tears. I guess he was gonna miss me too. "What about the voice?" He asked suddenly.

"I'm not quitting that competition. I will travel from wherever the hell she's taking me and I'm gonna be in that competition", I said. He laughed and high fived me. "That's our girl."

"All I know is that this isn't the end", I whispered. "Not yet", Emma smiled. "Not quite yet", Darren added.

I smiled. "You took this better than Juan Karlos", I sighed. Emma held my hand reassuringly. "He'll be okay. There's no way he's not gonna be there at the airport tomorrow. He loves you." I nodded.

She's right. We'll all be fine. Even if we're not together, we'll be fine.

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(The next day at the airport)

"We have a pool and my parents are very kind and-" Lillian looked at me and probably noticed I didn't care and I wasn't listening to anything she was saying.

"We can always visit", she said reassuringly. "We're going to be in America. Visiting won't make it up", I snapped.

She sighed and put her hand on mine. "I had to leave my friends too. To go to America. You'll be fine, I promise."

I sighed. "Where are they?" I muttered. They were supposed to be here before I left.

"Syd!" I heard screaming and loud footsteps. I turned around and saw Darren, Emma, and Lynelle running towards me.

I dropped my suitcases and ran towards them. I picked up Lynelle first and spun her around. "I'm gonna miss you, ate", she said quietly.

"Don't worry, ate Emma will be here. She's not as nice or pretty as me but it'll be fine", I joked. Emma hit my shoulder playfully and I stood up.

"Darren if you hurt her I won't hesitate to come back here and murder you", I said casually.

He nodded and laughed. "I won't ever hurt her. She'll murder me too." I laughed. "She will", I warned. I was kind of bummed out that Juan Karlos didn't come but he's probably still sad.

Emma must have noticed because she sighed and gave me a hug. "He'll be here."

I heard music coming from the other side of the airport and saw Juan Karlos in casual jeans and a varsity jacket with an "S" on it. I smiled.

"Walk my way, Mrs. All American", he sang softly. I laughed. Mrs. All American talaga ah?

I walked- ran towards him and he wrapped his arms around me. "Don't leave", he whispered. "It's not my choice, they're making me", I replied.

He pulled away with a shocked expression on his face. "They can't do that!" I sighed. "Apparently, they can."

"Are you sure, or do you want to leave?" He asked suspiciously. I can't believe this. "Of course I don't want to leave! Are you seriously doing this here?" I asked.

He didn't answer for a while and I sighed. "Forget it. I have to go", I walked away without letting him say anything. "Wait!" I heard him yell.

I turned and he walked to me and handed me the varsity jacket. "This is for you", he said harshly, shoving the jacket at me. "I'm glad your leaving."

I stood there, a single tear running down my face. "Me too", I whispered to him. I turned and walked away.

"We have to go if we don't want to be late", Lillian said with a sympathetic expression on her face. I nodded and waved one last time at them.

This is it, I'm coming America.