Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue in this chapter will be written in Italian. I used Google Translate for this so it might be inaccurate. Translations will be put at the end of the chapter.

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"Oh mio Dio! Zietta, mi prendi in giro?" I yelled over the phone to my biological aunt, who had called me out of the blue twenty minutes ago.

"No, Valerie. Ho preparato i piani e il biglietto aereo, parti stasera." I could not stop smiling. This was huge.

"What's going on?" George asked, walking in my room. I put my aunt on hold and said, "My biological aunt just called me!"

Then it hit me. If I told George I got invited to go to Italy, I don't think he'd let me go.

"That's amazing, Valerie! What did she say?" George asked. I sighed, not knowing how to respond.

"I told her I got adopted." I said, lying right through my teeth. George clapped and said, "How did she react?"

Oh God. I was not expecting him to ask this question.

"Uh...she was happy, I guess?" I said, totally ad-libbing this entire conversation. "Anyways, um, I have a bunch of math homework to get done, and while I would love to talk for a bit, I really need to get this done...I don't want my grades slipping, do you?"

George seemed to take the hint and quietly shut my bedroom door behind him. Once I was sure he couldn't hear or see me, I frantically hung up on my aunt and grabbed my suitcase out of my closet.

"How much do I need to pack...she didn't tell me how long I was gonna be there for...crap." I said to myself, grabbing clothes out of my drawer and shoving them in my suitcase.

"Hey Val?" George asked right when I finished the last of the packing and zipped up my suitcase. "You wanna come to the theater with me?"

"Sure..." I said, wondering how I was going to get to the airport in time. Or how I was even gonna get to the airport in the first place.

"You sound really unenthusiastic about that, Val. Is something up?"

Yeah, Dad, I'm going to Italy in a few hours.

"Nope, nothing's up. Can I bring some...books with me?" I asked. George nodded and I managed to fit 5 days' worth of clothes in my biggest backpack. It might get a bit wrinkled on the plane, but I don't care. And I also shoved some books and my phone in my backpack as well.

"Ready to go, Valerie?" George asked.

"Yep..." I said.

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I needed to get to the airport. I had to. Or else my only chances of going to Italy would be taken away from me.

I sighed, trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't just run away, I couldn't even drive. And George was kind of paranoid of me running.

"I have to go...I have to go..." I said, shifting on my feet. The only thing I could think of was write a quick note explaining what was happening, and run.

And as 3:30 approached, that's exactly what I did. I grabbed a piece of paper from my backpack and scribbled down a quick note.

Hi, it's Valerie. I'm sorry. My biological aunt invited me to go to Italy for a week, and I don't think I'll get this opportunity again. George won't let me go, so I'm just going to go on my own. See you on Thursday. ~Val.

I was running out of time. If I don't leave now, I won't be able to go. I'll miss my flight.

I saw Lauren from the corner. Grabbing my backpack, I pressed the note in her hand and ran.

AN: Val's going to Italy! Val's going to Italy! I'm so excited for this!
Also, here are the translations!
"Oh mio Dio! Zietta, mi prendi in giro?"- Oh my God! Auntie, are you kidding?
"No, Valerie. Ho preparato i piani e il biglietto aereo, parti stasera."- No, Valerie. I got the plans and the airfare, you're leaving tonight.
Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!