Page 42 of In a Perfect World

However, the second that she saw the bag on the bed and the toiletries next to it, she stopped in her tracks, the evidence spelling out a scenario that was as clear as day.I was packing, but not like I was moving into another house.

“What’s this?”

“I’m leaving,” I finally told her.

“You’re leaving?”she echoed.“Leaving where?”

My heart started pounding in my chest as I said the one word that I’d never be able to take back.“Mexico.”

“Oh, God,” she rushed out as she dropped on my bed.“Triana...”

“I can’t do it anymore, Sonia,” I told her as I pushed my bag to the side in order to sit down next to her.“I can’t.”

“Triana, you can’t...this is insane,” she stammered, her blue eyes filled with concern.

“It’s the only way that I can be happy,” I insisted.“If I stay here...what’s left for me here?Besides you and Tomasco, what else am I to do with my life?”

“You’re only twenty-four,” she quickly replied.“You...you have plenty of time to find your place here, Triana.You’re...you’re beautiful, smart, ambitious, and strong.You can do anything.”

“And this is what I’m choosing to do,” I told her.“Even if I move across the region to start over, it’ll still be the same thing.The same men, the same women, the same culture, the same expectations, the sameeverything.At least...in Mexico I have a chance at something more.”

Her eyes widened again.“So, let me get this straight...you’re leaving Rancher Hills because it’s filled with nothing but Hispanics to go to Mexico where there’s nothing but Hispanics?Do you realize how insane that sounds?”

“This isn’t about Mexico,” I said, trying to explain in a way that would make her understand.

“Then what’s it about?’

“It’s about what’s beyond Mexico, Sonia,” I answered.“From Mexico, I can go anywhere.I can head to South America, the Caribbean, Peru...I can even make my way to Australia or Italy.”

“All places that want nothing to do with Americans,” she pointed out.“Wherever you end up, you’ll be an illegal citizen, hiding from the world.”

“You don’t know that,” I automatically argued.“There are places that...that don’t mind Americans.”

Ignoring that, she said, “Triana, what you’re proposing is incredibly dangerous.”

“I know,” I bit out as I stood from the bed.“Don’t you think I know that?This isn’t...it’s not a whim, Sonia.I’ve been thinking about this for weeks.”

She stood up with me.“Ever since you met Kairo Booker?”

I let out a low sigh, not wanting her to blame him when this was all my idea.“This is all me, Sonia,” I assured her.“This is whatIwant.”

“And what about Kairo?”she asked.“Does he know about this?”

I nodded.“He’s going with me.”

That bit of news had her sitting back down again.“Are you...are you serious?”

“He tried to talk me out of it, but when he finally realized that I wasn’t going to change my mind, he agreed to go with me,” I informed her.“It’s not...it’s not ideal, but it’s the only way that we can be together.”

“Triana, this will ruin his father’s political career,” she said, her face full of incredulousness.“His family will never recover from something like this.If you love him, why would you ever put him in a position like this?What are you thinking?’

Ignoring the pang in my chest, I said, “I’m thinking that I want to be happy, Sonia.”

“Then leave without him,” she snapped.“Don’t take him down with you just because you don’t want to be alone as your life falls apart.Jesus Christ, Triana.”

“I thought you were always on my side,” I said, hurt that she wasn’t this time.

“I love you,” she stated fiercely.“I love you like we’re blood, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to tell you when you’re wrong, and this time, you’re wrong.”