"Amira, I know what you’re trying to do, and I wouldn’t recommend that you push through." Brenda’s voice broke the silence, her arms crossed as she watched me pack the last of my things. “I don’t trust Julia. She isn't who you think she is. She's dangerous. You barely know anything about her motives, and you’re putting everything on the line for her word?”
The afternoon sun was sinking lower, casting warm light across the small room where Brenda and I stood, our voices barely above whispers yet crackling with tension. We hadn’t planned on having this conversation, at least not now, not like this—but here we were, in a standoff that neither of us could seem to walk away from.
“I don’t know what you’re saying.” I was firm to keep up with my lies.
However, Brenda's patience ran out as wel
