Skip to playerSkip to main content
Toxic But Good
😊Click to download the app to watch all episodes for free: https://reelslink.com/marketing/dbpmqJ
🌎For FULL HD Episodes on ReelShort site:🔗 https://www.reelshort.com/movie/you-ignored-my-birthday-so-i-erased-myself-from-the-family-6aa14b83871c17602008654b

🍁Notice: Toxic But Good is an officially authorized publisher of ReelShort content.

Some families celebrate milestones. 🎈
Others pretend you don't exist. 🔇

Her brother got a steakhouse dinner. Her sister got a theme park trip.
But on her 18th birthday, mid-summer July 19th? Absolute silence.

Dive into "You Ignored My Birthday So I Erased Myself From The Family".
No yelling. No fighting. Just a quiet realization that it is time to leave.
Will they even notice when she's gone? 🧩

GENRE ✦ Drama, Female, All-Too-Late, Modern
文字稿
00:00:05This family celebrates everyone's birthday, everyone's but mine, because my parents only
00:00:11love my twin siblings, Ethan and Chloe. They don't love me. When Ethan wants a birthday
00:00:16party, my parents book a private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance. When
00:00:22it's Chloe's turn and she wants to go to Six Flags, the whole family goes. Mom even posts
00:00:27nine photos on Instagram, but on my birthday, this house always treats it like any other
00:00:32day. I thought turning 18 would be different. That morning, I got up early on purpose, put
00:00:38on light makeup, and sat on the living room couch to wait. Mom walked past me on her way
00:00:44out, carrying Chloe's dance bag. Heat up your own lunch. I'm taking Chloe to her intensive
00:00:49class. Dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard. Ethan called him to go play basketball at the
00:00:56park, and the two of them left soon after. At noon, I was the only one left in the house.
00:01:02I sent a message in the family group chat. I'm 18 today. No one replied. At seven that
00:01:09night, everybody came home. No one sang. No one felt like anything was missing. I was 18
00:01:16now. At last, I could decide for myself where I wanted to go. Mallory, delete that message
00:01:22from the group chat. I almost missed Grandpa's voice message. Ethan didn't even look up. He
00:01:29tapped the edge of his plate lightly with his dinner knife, signaling Mom to give him more
00:01:35ribs. I looked down at my phone. The message in the family chat, I'm 18 today, was still
00:01:42sitting there. No one had replied. Mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in
00:01:49the middle of the table. All right. No phones at dinner. I looked at the food on the table.
00:01:58Ethan liked ribs. Chloe liked mac and cheese. Mom had made the salad for herself. Not a single
00:02:04dish was for me. I liked seafood. Grilled salmon was my favorite. I had said it so many times.
00:02:12No one in this family remembered. Dad, today... Dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me.
00:02:22The next second, he turned back to Ethan.
00:02:25How's your wrist from basketball this afternoon? Does the sprain still hurt?
00:02:28It's okay. Shoot. It aches a little when I shoot.
00:02:32I'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow.
00:02:33My words died in midair. I finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes. I turned
00:02:41the faucet on high. From the living room came the sound of Chloe practicing ballet basics,
00:02:48her toes landing against the floor one by one. Mom counted beats beside her. Ethan was playing
00:02:53Xbox in his room, shouting every few minutes. Dad was on the couch with his iPad. Everyone in
00:02:58this house had something of their own. Everyone had someone answering them. Except me. I stood
00:03:07in the kitchen, washing platelets and cups for five people. The water was loud. Loud enough
00:03:14that even if I cried, no one would hear. After the dishes, I went back to my room and shut
00:03:19the door. My phone lit up. It was a message in the class group chat. It was the only happy
00:03:24birthday I had received all day from a classmate I had known for less than a year. I replied,
00:03:28thank you. Then I opened my photo album and kept scrolling back. After I turned six, Mom's
00:03:34camera had almost completely turned toward them. Most of the photos were of them. I scrolled
00:03:39for a long time before I finally found one. It was from when I was nine and had entered
00:03:43the school speech contest. Mom had taken it from the audience. The photo was blurry. Only
00:03:49half my body was in it because the other half of the frame was Chloe in the front row, turning
00:03:54back toward the camera with a bright smile. I stood off stage in front of the microphone,
00:03:59my face barely visible. The phone screen dimmed, and my face appeared in the black reflection.
00:04:07Eighteen-year-old Mallory Hayes had spent the whole morning putting on makeup, waited all
00:04:11day, and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday. Mom's voice came from outside the door.
00:04:18Mallory, wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning. She has training at 8.30. Okay.
00:04:29Hey, sis. It's seven. Chloe had woken up on her own. She stood in my doorway in a pink leotard,
00:04:35her hair half-tied. I checked my phone. 6.53. My alarm hadn't even gone off.
00:04:42You got up by yourself? Yeah. I set an alarm. Mom told you to wake me, but I was afraid
00:04:49you
00:04:49didn't sleep well last night. She said it so casually, but the words still stung. She knew
00:04:55I hadn't slept well last night. I'll help you tie your hair. No, it's fine. I can do it.
00:05:04She turned and left. Chloe had always been like that with me. She wasn't cruel. She
00:05:11just wasn't close. She called me sis, but the word carried no weight. The twins had their
00:05:19own rhythm, and I had never been able to enter it. At breakfast, Mom was warming milk for
00:05:24Chloe. Ethan wasn't up yet. Mally, have you eaten? I have. I hadn't. She didn't even check
00:05:33whether there was a bowl I'd used on the table. She just nodded. Chloe, did you pack your water
00:05:38bottle? It's hot today. Drink more water. I did. Mally, drive your sister there. She
00:05:45still doesn't know the stops near the training center. Chloe had been going to that training
00:05:49center for two years. Mom still said she didn't know the way. Okay. As we were leaving, Ethan
00:05:57finally got up and called from his doorway. Mom, what's for breakfast? I left you a bagel and
00:06:04yogurt on the table. A bagel and yogurt. Ethan's regular breakfast. No one had ever asked what
00:06:11I wanted in the morning. On the way to the training center, Chloe sat in the passenger seat
00:06:17scrolling through her phone. She wasn't trying to be cold. It just never occurred to her to
00:06:23talk to me. Sis? When she suddenly spoke, my palm tightened on the wheel. What? That message
00:06:34you sent in the group chat yesterday? Ethan told you to delete it? Yeah. Did you? No. She nodded,
00:06:45then lowered her head to look at her phone again. I waited for a long time, waiting for her to
00:06:50say,
00:06:50happy birthday. She didn't. When we reached the training center, she unbuckled her seat belt.
00:06:57Sis, I'm here. Yeah. Train hard. Can you pick me up this afternoon? I finish at five.
00:07:03I have a study group this afternoon. That was a lie. I had nothing this afternoon. I just didn't
00:07:09want to go. Then I'll ask mom to pick me up. Okay. At 4.50 that afternoon, mom sent a
00:07:16message in the
00:07:17family group chat. Chloe finishes training at five. Who can pick her up? I'm in a meeting. I'm at a
00:07:23friend's house. Mallory, aren't you free this afternoon? I looked at that message. She started
00:07:28with who can pick her up, but in the end, it still landed on me. It's on your way anyway,
00:07:32right? Just
00:07:33go pick her up. It wasn't on my way at all, but in this family, my road was always on
00:07:37the way.
00:07:37My time was always free. I typed okay and sent it. Then I turned my phone face down on the
00:07:43desk.
00:07:46Suddenly, I wondered what would happen if one day I didn't reply with okay. If I turned off my phone,
00:07:55canceled my number and disappeared too. Would they first panic because no one could pick up Chloe or
00:08:01would they think of me first? I knew the answer. When I picked Chloe up, her face was flushed from
00:08:06training and her hair was damp. Sis, I'm thirsty. Where's your water bottle? Finished it. I handed
00:08:13her the spare bottle of water in the car. Thanks, sis. On the way home, she soon fell asleep against
00:08:19the window. I adjusted the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold. She was the little
00:08:23princess everyone in the family revolved around, and most of the roads I had driven through this
00:08:27city had been for someone else, but not for much longer. Not long after, the school college
00:08:33counselor called me into her office. Mallory Hayes, I saw your awards record. Honorable Ments
00:08:38in the National Math Olympias. That's impressive. Awards like that carry real weight. Which schools
00:08:43are you considering for early applications? I'm still looking. What do your parents think?
00:08:48I haven't told them yet. Something this important, and you're not discussing it with your family first?
00:08:53I want to look into it myself first. I knew that even if I told them, no one would take
00:08:58it seriously.
00:08:58On last month's mock examine, I ranked third in the entire grade. I took a photo of my report card
00:09:02and sent it to the family group chat. My third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very
00:09:06short while. All it got from mom was one sentence. Not bad. The next message was a video mom sent
00:09:10of
00:09:10Chloe dancing. That afternoon, when I got home, I found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and
00:09:15flyers on the coffee table. It said, congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. Your daughter, Mallory Hayes,
00:09:21has received an honorable mention in the National High School Mathematics Olympiad. Two months had passed.
00:09:26The envelope hadn't even been opened. It was tucked between bills and pizza courons. Completely forgotten.
00:09:31At dinner, mom answered a FaceTime call from my aunt. My aunt asked about Ethan's swim meet. Mom said he
00:09:37had
00:09:37taken second place in the district, pride filling her voice. My aunt asked about Chloe's dance
00:09:41competition. Mom said she had won gold at regionals, and the judges had praised how steady she was off
00:09:46dyes. How's Mallory? She's applying to college soon too, right? She's doing fine. Third in my grade,
00:09:54a National Math Olympiac award. In mom's mouth, all of it became doing fine. I sat at the dining table,
00:10:00still holding the award letter that had been forgotten for two months. No one asked how I had
00:10:04been lately. No one turned to me and said, Mallory, what about you? I went back to my room,
00:10:09opened my laptop, and started looking up colleges that would actually care about competition
00:10:12backgrounds. In the end, I stopped at Carnegie Mellon. Hundreds of miles away from home, no one
00:10:17would remember me, only when they needed someone to pick up my sister. I opened the application page.
00:10:22My fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds before I finally closed it. I decided to try one more
00:10:28time. If they still couldn't see me this time, I would leave. Completely.
00:10:37Mallory, Ashley is coming to stay with us for a while. Give her your room and share with Chloe for
00:10:43now. Saturday morning, mom said it casually while changing shoes by the door. I was sitting at the
00:10:48dining table eating cereal. My spoon stopped in midair.
00:10:55Why my room?
00:10:56Your room gets the best natural light. Ashley hasn't been feeling well lately, and the doctor
00:11:01said more sunlight would be good for her. Ethan's room has a window too. Your brother is a boy,
00:11:05Ashley is a girl. How could they share a room?
00:11:07Then let her stay with Chloe. Chloe needs space to stretch at night. Your room only has a bed and
00:11:12a
00:11:12desk. It's easy to clear out. How long is she staying?
00:11:14About half a month. Her summer program is over here. I didn't argue anymore. Experience had taught
00:11:19me a long time ago that arguing was useless. That afternoon, Ashley came in dragging two large
00:11:25suitcases, smiling sweetly. Auntie, uncle. You're here! You're here! Come in! Mom was so warm,
00:11:35as if an important guest had arrived. Ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from
00:11:40the doorway. Auntie, can this bookshelf be moved out? I want to put a vanity mirror here.
00:11:46Of course. Mallory, move the bookshelf out. On my bookshelf were three years of notebooks,
00:11:53reference books, and a few certificates. It took me an hour to move everything into a corner of Chloe's
00:11:59room. That night, I laid a mattress on the floor of Chloe's room. Sis, why don't you sleep on the
00:12:06bed?
00:12:06I'll sleep on the floor. No, the floor is fine. Ashley is actually okay. Don't be upset.
00:12:15Ashley was never what upset me. What hurt was that in this house, I was always the one expected to
00:12:22give
00:12:22way. On the third day, I went back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to
00:12:28find
00:12:28Ashley flipping through my math competition notes. These are yours? Your handwriting is so neat.
00:12:33Yeah. Please put them back. I was just looking. You're way too protective of this stuff.
00:12:39She casually put the notebook back on the desk. I glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing.
00:12:44There was a blue one on the desk. Where is it? I didn't touch it. I didn't see it.
00:12:48I searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can. Half the cover had been torn off,
00:12:53and several pages inside were soaked with coffee. The writing blurred into smears. It was the
00:12:57problem-solving notebook I had been organizing since freshman year. Three years. I only had that one copy.
00:13:02Ashley, this? Oh, maybe I knocked it over when I was carrying coffee. Just write another one.
00:13:07I stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook, my hands shaking.
00:13:14I took the notebook back to Chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer.
00:13:20Where the writing was blurred, I slowly filled it back in with a pencil.
00:13:27I worked until one in the morning. The next morning, Ashley sat in my old seat, chatting happily
00:13:32with mom. No one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark, or what had happened last night.
00:13:37And I no longer needed to wait for that one last time.
00:13:41From that day on, I began preparing to leave. Until the day I received my acceptance letter,
00:13:46I knew the time had come to leave this house. I packed my suitcase and bought a gray house ticket
00:13:50for the early dawn departure the next day. The destination was Pittsburgh. Then I walked to
00:13:55the door and placed my house key on the small entryway table. I left the group chat and deactivated
00:14:00my old phone number. The screen went dark. The whole world suddenly became much quieter.
00:14:07I pulled my suitcase, opened the door, and closed it softly behind me.
00:14:29This family celebrates everyone's birthday. Everyone's but mine. Because my parents only
00:14:35love my twin siblings, Ethan and Chloe. They don't love me. When Ethan wants a birthday party,
00:14:41my parents book a private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance.
00:14:45When it's Chloe's turn and she wants to go to Six Flags, the whole family goes. Mom even posts nine
00:14:51photos on Instagram. But on my birthday, this house always treats it like any other day. I thought
00:14:57turning 18 would be different. That morning, I got up early on purpose, put on light makeup, and sat on
00:15:04the living room couch to wait. Mom walked past me on her way out, carrying Chloe's dance bag.
00:15:10Heat up your own lunch. I'm taking Chloe to her intensive class.
00:15:15Dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard. Ethan called him to go play basketball at the park,
00:15:21and the two of them left soon after. At noon, I was the only one left in the house.
00:15:26I sent a message in the family group chat. I'm 18 today. No one replied. At seven that night,
00:15:33everybody came home. No one sang. No one felt like anything was missing. I was 18 now. At last,
00:15:41I could decide for myself where I wanted to go. Mallory, delete that message from the group chat.
00:15:48I almost missed Grandpa's voice message. Ethan didn't even look up. He tapped the edge of his plate,
00:15:55lightly with his dinner knife, signaling Mom to give him more ribs. I looked down at my phone. The
00:16:03message in the family chat, I'm 18 today, was still sitting there. No one had replied.
00:16:10Mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table.
00:16:16All right. No phones at dinner. I looked at the food on the table. Ethan liked ribs. Chloe liked mac
00:16:25and cheese. Mom had made the salad for herself. Not a single dish was for me. I liked seafood.
00:16:32Grilled salmon was my favorite. I had said it so many times. No one in this family remembered.
00:16:40Dad, today... Dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me. The next second, he turned back to Ethan.
00:16:49How's your wrist from basketball this afternoon? Does the sprain still hurt?
00:16:53It's okay. Shoot. It aches a little when I shoot. I'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow.
00:16:58My words died in midair. I finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes. I turned the faucet on
00:17:05high.
00:17:08From the living room came the sound of Chloe practicing ballet basics, her toes landing
00:17:13against the floor one by one. Mom counted beats beside her. Ethan was playing Xbox in his room,
00:17:18shouting every few minutes. Dad was on the couch with his iPad. Everyone in this house had something
00:17:23of their own. Everyone had someone answering them. Except me. I stood in the kitchen, washing
00:17:32platelets and cups for five people. The water was loud. Loud enough that even if I cried, no one would
00:17:40hear. After the dishes, I went back to my room and shut the door. My phone lit up. It was
00:17:45a message in
00:17:46the class group chat. It was the only happy birthday I had received all day from a classmate I had
00:17:50known
00:17:51for less than a year. I replied, thank you. Then I opened my photo album and kept scrolling back. After
00:17:56I
00:17:56turned six, Mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them. Most of the photos were of
00:18:01them. I scrolled for a long time before I finally found one. It was from when I was nine and
00:18:07had
00:18:07entered the school speech contest. Mom had taken it from the audience. The photo was blurry. Only half
00:18:13my body was in it because the other half of the frame was Chloe in the front row, turning back
00:18:18toward
00:18:19the camera with a bright smile. I stood off stage in front of the microphone, my face barely visible.
00:18:26The phone screen dimmed and my face appeared in the black reflection. 18-year-old Mallory Hayes had
00:18:32spent the whole morning putting on makeup, waited all day and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday.
00:18:38Mom's voice came from outside the door.
00:18:42Mallory, wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning. She has training at 8.30.
00:18:50Okay.
00:18:53Hey, sis. It's seven. Chloe had woken up on her own. She stood in my doorway in a pink leotard,
00:18:59her hair half-tied. I checked my phone. 6.53. My alarm hadn't even gone off.
00:19:06You got up by yourself? Yeah. I set an alarm. Mom told you to wake me, but I was afraid
00:19:13you didn't
00:19:13sleep well last night. She said it so casually, but the words still stung. She knew I hadn't slept
00:19:19well last night. I'll help you tie your hair. No, it's fine. I can do it.
00:19:28She turned and left. Chloe had always been like that with me. She wasn't cruel.
00:19:35She just wasn't close. She called me sis, but the word carried no weight. The twins had their own
00:19:43rhythm and I had never been able to enter it. At breakfast, Mom was warming milk for Chloe.
00:19:49Ethan wasn't up yet. Mally, have you eaten? I have. I hadn't. She didn't even check whether there was a
00:19:57bowl I'd used on the table. She just nodded. Chloe, did you pack your water bottle? It's hot today.
00:20:03Drink more water. I did. Mally, drive your sister there. She still doesn't know the stops near the
00:20:11training center. Chloe had been going to that training center for two years. Mom still said
00:20:16she didn't know the way. Okay. As we were leaving, Ethan finally got up and called from his doorway.
00:20:24Mom, what's for breakfast? I left you a bagel and yogurt on the table.
00:20:29A bagel and yogurt. Ethan's regular breakfast. No one had ever asked what I wanted in the morning.
00:20:37On the way to the training center, Chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone.
00:20:43She wasn't trying to be cold. It just never occurred to her to talk to me.
00:20:50Sis? When she suddenly spoke, my palm tightened on the wheel.
00:20:57What? That message you sent in the group chat yesterday? Ethan told you to delete it?
00:21:04Yeah. Did you? No. She nodded, then lowered her head to look at her phone again. I waited for a
00:21:13long
00:21:13time, waiting for her to say, happy birthday. She didn't. When we reached the training center,
00:21:19she unbuckled her seat belt. Sis, I'm here. Yeah. Train hard. Can you pick me up this afternoon?
00:21:26I finish at five. I have a study group this afternoon. That was a lie. I had nothing this
00:21:32afternoon. I just didn't want to go. Then I'll ask mom to pick me up. Okay. At 4.50 that
00:21:39afternoon,
00:21:40mom sent a message in the family group chat. Chloe finishes training at five. Who can pick her up?
00:21:45I'm in a meeting. I'm at a friend's house. Mallory, aren't you free this afternoon?
00:21:50I looked at that message. She started with, who can pick her up? But in the end,
00:21:54it still landed on me. It's on your way anyway, right? Just go pick her up. It wasn't on my
00:21:58way
00:21:59at all. But in this family, my road was always on the way. My time was always free. I typed
00:22:04okay
00:22:04and sent it. Then I turned my phone face down on the desk. Suddenly, I wondered,
00:22:12what would happen if one day I didn't reply with okay? If I turned off my phone,
00:22:19canceled my number, and disappeared too? Would they first panic because no one could pick up Chloe?
00:22:24Or would they think of me first? I knew the answer. When I picked Chloe up,
00:22:29her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp. Sis, I'm thirsty. Where's your water bottle?
00:22:35Finished it. I handed her the spare bottle of water in the car. Thanks, sis.
00:22:41On the way home, she soon fell asleep against the window. I adjusted the air conditionings so
00:22:45the car wouldn't be so cold. She was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around,
00:22:49and most of the roads I had driven through this city had been for someone else, but not for much
00:22:53longer. Not long after, the school college counselor called me into her office. Mallory Hayes,
00:23:00I saw your awards record. Honorable Ments in the National Math Olympias. That's impressive.
00:23:05Awards like that carry real weight. Which schools are you considering for early applications?
00:23:09I'm still looking. What do your parents think? I haven't told them yet. Something this important,
00:23:14and you're not discussing it with your family first? I want to look into it myself first. I knew
00:23:20that even if I told them, no one would take it seriously. On last month's mock exam, I ranked third
00:23:24in the entire grade. I took a photo of my report card and sent it to the family group chat.
00:23:28My third
00:23:28place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short while. All it got from mom was one sentence,
00:23:32not bad. The next message was a video mom sent of Chloe dancing. That afternoon, when I got home,
00:23:37I found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on the coffee table. It said,
00:23:42Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. Your daughter, Mallory Hayes, has received an honorable mention in the
00:23:47National High School Mathematics Olympiad. Two months had passed. The envelope hadn't even been opened.
00:23:52It was tucked between bills and pizza courons, completely forgotten. At dinner,
00:23:56mom answered a FaceTime call from my aunt. My aunt asked about Ethan's swim meet. Mom said he had
00:24:01taken second place in the district, pride filling her voice. My aunt asked about Chloe's dance
00:24:05competition. Mom said she had won gold at regionals, and the judges had praised how steady she was off
00:24:10dyes. How's Mallory? She's applying to college soon too, right? She's doing fine. Third in my grade,
00:24:18a National Math Olympiac award. In mom's mouth, all of it became doing fine. I sat at the dining table,
00:24:24still holding the award letter that had been forgotten for two months. No one asked how I had
00:24:28been lately. No one turned to me and said, Mallory, what about you? I went back to my room,
00:24:33opened my laptop, and started looking up colleges that would actually care about competition
00:24:36backgrounds. In the end, I stopped at Carnegie Mellon. Hundreds of miles away from home,
00:24:41no one would remember me, only when they needed someone to pick up my sister. I opened the application
00:24:45page. My fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds before I finally closed it. I decided to
00:24:52try one more time. If they still couldn't see me this time, I would leave. Completely.
00:25:01Mallory, Ashley is coming to stay with us for a while.
00:25:05Give her your room and share with Chloe for now. Saturday morning, mom said it casually while
00:25:10changing shoes by the door. I was sitting at the dining table eating cereal. My spoon stopped in midair.
00:25:19Why my room? Your room gets the best natural light. Ashley hasn't been feeling well lately,
00:25:24and the doctor said more sunlight would be good for her. Ethan's room has a window too. Your brother
00:25:29is a boy. Ashley is a girl. How could they share a room? Then let her stay with Chloe. Chloe
00:25:33needs
00:25:33space to stretch at night. Your room only has a bed and a desk. It's easy to clear out. How
00:25:37long is she
00:25:38staying? About half a month. Her summer program is over here. I didn't argue anymore. Experience had taught
00:25:43me a long time ago that arguing was useless. That afternoon, Ashley came in dragging two large
00:25:49suitcases, smiling sweetly. Auntie? Uncle? You're here! You're here! Come in! Mom was so warm,
00:25:59as if an important guest had arrived. Ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the
00:26:04doorway. Auntie, can this bookshelf be moved out? I want to put a vanity mirror here. Of course. Mallory,
00:26:13move the bookshelf out. On my bookshelf were three years of notebooks, reference books, and a few
00:26:18certificates. It took me an hour to move everything into a corner of Chloe's room. That night, I laid a
00:26:25mattress on the floor of Chloe's room. Sis, why don't you sleep on the bed? I'll sleep on the floor.
00:26:32No, the floor is fine. Ashley is actually okay. Don't be upset. Ashley was never what upset me.
00:26:42What hurt was that, in this house, I was always the one expected to give way. On the third day,
00:26:49I went
00:26:49back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find Ashley flipping through my math
00:26:54competition notes. These are yours? Your handwriting is so neat. Yeah. Please put them back. I was just
00:27:00looking. You're way too protective of this stuff. She casually put the notebook back on the desk. I glanced
00:27:05over and suddenly realized one was missing. There was a blue one on the desk. Where is it? I didn't
00:27:10touch it. I didn't see it. I searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can.
00:27:15Half the cover had been torn off and several pages inside were soaked with coffee. The writing blurred
00:27:20into smears. It was the problem-solving notebook I had been organizing since freshman year. Three years.
00:27:25I only had that one copy. Ashley, this? Oh, maybe I knocked it over when I was carrying coffee. Just
00:27:30write another one. I stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook, my hands shaking.
00:27:38I took the notebook back to Chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer.
00:27:44Where the writing was blurred, I slowly filled it back in with a pencil.
00:27:51I worked until one in the morning. The next morning, Ashley sat in my old seat,
00:27:55chatting happily with mom. No one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark,
00:28:00or what had happened last night. And I no longer needed to wait for that one last time.
00:28:05From that day on, I began preparing to leave. Until the day I received my acceptance letter,
00:28:10I knew the time had come to leave this house. I packed my suitcase and bought a Greyhouse ticket for
00:28:14the early dawn departure the next day. The destination was Pittsburgh. Then I walked
00:28:18to the door and placed my house key on the small entryway table. I left the group chat and deactivated
00:28:24my old phone number. The screen went dark. The whole world suddenly became much quieter.
00:28:31I pulled my suitcase, opened the door, and closed it softly behind me.
00:28:53This family celebrates everyone's birthday. Everyone's but mine. Because my parents only
00:28:59love my twin siblings, Ethan and Chloe. They don't love me. When Ethan wants a birthday party,
00:29:05my parents book a private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance.
00:29:09When it's Chloe's turn and she wants to go to Six Flags, the whole family goes. Mom even posts nine
00:29:15photos
00:29:15on Instagram. But on my birthday, this house always treats it like any other day.
00:29:21I thought turning 18 would be different. That morning, I got up early on purpose,
00:29:26put on light makeup, and sat on the living room couch to wait. Mom walked past me on her way
00:29:32out,
00:29:32carrying Chloe's dance bag. Heat up your own lunch. I'm taking Chloe to her intensive class.
00:29:39Dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard. Ethan called him to go play basketball at the park,
00:29:45and the two of them left soon after. At noon, I was the only one left in the house.
00:29:50I sent a message in the family group chat. I'm 18 today. No one replied. At seven that night,
00:29:58everybody came home. No one sang. No one felt like anything was missing. I was 18 now. At last,
00:30:05I could decide for myself where I wanted to go. Mallory, delete that message from the group chat.
00:30:12I almost missed grandpa's voice message. Ethan didn't even look up. He tapped the edge of his
00:30:18plate lightly with his dinner knife, signaling mom to give him more ribs. I looked down at my phone.
00:30:26The message in the family chat, I'm 18 today, was still sitting there. No one had replied.
00:30:34Mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table.
00:30:40All right. No phones at dinner.
00:30:44I looked at the food on the table. Ethan liked ribs. Chloe liked mac and cheese. Mom had made the
00:30:50salad for herself. Not a single dish was for me. I liked seafood. Grilled salmon was my favorite.
00:30:58I had said it so many times. No one in this family remembered. Dad, today...
00:31:06Dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me. The next second, he turned back to Ethan.
00:31:12How's your wrist from basketball this afternoon? Does the sprain still hurt?
00:31:17It's okay. Shoot. It aches a little when I shoot.
00:31:20I'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow.
00:31:22My words died in midair. I finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes. I turned the faucet on
00:31:29high.
00:31:32From the living room came the sound of Chloe practicing ballet basics,
00:31:36her toes landing against the floor one by one. Mom counted beats beside her. Ethan was playing
00:31:41Xbox in his room, shouting every few minutes. Dad was on the couch with his iPad. Everyone in this
00:31:47house had something of their own. Everyone had someone answering them. Except me. I stood in the
00:31:55kitchen, washing platelets and cups for five people. The water was loud. Loud enough that even if I cried,
00:32:03no one would hear. After the dishes, I went back to my room and shut the door. My phone lit
00:32:08up. It was a
00:32:09message in the class group chat. It was the only happy birthday I had received all day, from a classmate
00:32:14I
00:32:14had known for less than a year. I replied, thank you. Then I opened my photo album and kept scrolling
00:32:19back. After I turned six, Mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them. Most of the photos were of
00:32:25them. I scrolled for a long time before I finally found one. It was from when I was nine and
00:32:31had entered
00:32:31the school speech contest. Mom had taken it from the audience. The photo was blurry. Only half my body was
00:32:38in it,
00:32:38because the other half of the frame was Chloe in the front row, turning back toward the camera with a
00:32:43bright smile.
00:32:45I stood off stage in front of the microphone, my face barely visible. The phone screen dimmed,
00:32:51and my face appeared in the black reflection. 18 year old Mallory Hayes had spent the whole
00:32:57morning putting on makeup, waited all day, and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday. Mom's
00:33:03voice came from outside the door. Mallory, wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning. She has training
00:33:11at 8 30. Okay. Hey sis, it's seven. Chloe had woken up on her own. She stood in my doorway
00:33:22in a pink
00:33:23leotard, her hair half tied. I checked my phone. 6 53. My alarm hadn't even gone off.
00:33:30You got up by yourself? Yeah. I set an alarm. Mom told you to wake me, but I was afraid
00:33:37you didn't sleep
00:33:37well last night. She said it so casually, but the words still stung. She knew I hadn't slept well last
00:33:44night. I'll help you tie your hair. No, it's fine. I can do it.
00:33:52She turned and left. Chloe had always been like that with me. She wasn't cruel. She just wasn't
00:34:00close. She called me sis, but the word carried no weight. The twins had their own rhythm, and I had
00:34:08never been able to enter it. At breakfast, Mom was warming milk for Chloe. Ethan wasn't up yet.
00:34:15Mally, have you eaten? I have. I hadn't. She didn't even check whether there was a bowl I'd used
00:34:22on the table. She just nodded. Chloe, did you pack your water bottle? It's hot today. Drink more water.
00:34:29I did. Mally, drive your sister there. She still doesn't know the stops near the training center.
00:34:36Chloe had been going to that training center for two years. Mom still said she didn't know the way.
00:34:42Okay. As we were leaving, Ethan finally got up and called from his doorway. Mom, what's for
00:34:49breakfast? I left you a bagel and yogurt on the table. A bagel and yogurt? Ethan's regular breakfast.
00:34:58No one had ever asked what I wanted in the morning. On the way to the training center,
00:35:03Chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone. She wasn't trying to be cold. It just never
00:35:10occurred to her to talk to me. Sis? When she suddenly spoke, my palm tightened on the wheel.
00:35:19What? That message you sent in the group chat yesterday? Ethan told you to delete it?
00:35:26Yeah. Did you? No. She nodded, then lowered her head to look at her phone again. I waited for a
00:35:37long
00:35:37time, waiting for her to say, happy birthday. She didn't. When we reached the training center,
00:35:43she unbuckled her seat belt. Sis, I'm here. Yeah. Train hard. Can you pick me up this afternoon?
00:35:50I finish at five. I have a study group this afternoon. That was a lie. I had nothing this
00:35:56afternoon. I just didn't want to go. Then I'll ask mom to pick me up. Okay. At 4.50 that
00:36:03afternoon,
00:36:04mom sent a message in the family group chat. Chloe finishes training at five. Who can pick her up?
00:36:09I'm in a meeting. I'm at a friend's house. Mallory, aren't you free this afternoon?
00:36:14I looked at that message. She started with who can pick her up, but in the end,
00:36:18it still landed on me. It's on your way anyway, right? Just go pick her up. It wasn't on my
00:36:22way
00:36:23at all. But in this family, my road was always on the way. My time was always free. I typed
00:36:28okay
00:36:29and sent it. Then I turned my phone face down on the desk. Suddenly, I wondered,
00:36:36what would happen if one day I didn't reply with okay? If I turned off my phone,
00:36:43canceled my number, and disappeared too? Would they first panic because no one could pick up Chloe?
00:36:48Or would they think of me first? I knew the answer. When I picked Chloe up,
00:36:53her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp. Sis, I'm thirsty. Where's your water bottle?
00:36:59Finished it. I handed her the spare bottle of water in the car. Thanks, sis.
00:37:05On the way home, she soon fell asleep against the window. I adjusted the air conditionings so
00:37:09the car wouldn't be so cold. She was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around,
00:37:13and most of the roads I had driven through this city had been for someone else, but not for much
00:37:18longer. Not long after, the school college counselor called me into her office. Mallory Hayes,
00:37:24I saw your awards record. Honorable Ments in the National Math Olympias. That's impressive.
00:37:29Awards like that carry real weight. Which schools are you considering for early applications?
00:37:33I'm still looking. What do your parents think? I haven't told them yet. Something this important,
00:37:39and you're not discussing it with your family first? I want to look into it myself first. I knew that
00:37:44even if I told them, no one would take it seriously. On last month's mock examine, I ranked third in
00:37:48the
00:37:48entire grade. I took a photo of my report card and sent it to the family group chat. My third
00:37:52place
00:37:52ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short while. All it got from mom was one sentence,
00:37:56not bad. The next message was a video mom sent of Chloe dancing. That afternoon, when I got home,
00:38:01I found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on the coffee table. It said,
00:38:06Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. Your daughter, Mallory Hayes, has received an honorable mention in
00:38:11the National High School Mathematics Olympiad. Two months had passed. The envelope hadn't even been opened.
00:38:16It was tucked between bills and pizza curans, completely forgotten. At dinner, mom answered a
00:38:21FaceTime call from my aunt. My aunt asked about Ethan's swim meet. Mom said he had taken second
00:38:25place in the district, pride filling her voice. My aunt asked about Chloe's dance competition.
00:38:30Mom said she had won gold at regionals, and the judges had praised how steady she was off dyes.
00:38:35How's Mallory? She's applying to college soon too, right? She's doing fine. Third in my grade,
00:38:43a National Math Olympiac award. In mom's mouth, all of it became doing fine. I sat at the dining table,
00:38:48still holding the award letter that had been forgotten for two months. No one asked how I had
00:38:52been lately. No one turned to me and said, Mallory, what about you? I went back to my room,
00:38:57opened my laptop, and started looking up colleges that would actually care about competition
00:39:00backgrounds. In the end, I stopped at Carnegie Mellon. Hundreds of miles away from home,
00:39:05no one would remember me, only when they needed someone to pick up my sister. I opened the application
00:39:09page. My fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds, before I finally closed it. I decided to
00:39:16try one more time. If they still couldn't see me this time, I would leave. Completely.
00:39:25Mallory, Ashley is coming to stay with us for a while.
00:39:29Give her your room and share with Chloe for now. Saturday morning, mom said it casually while
00:39:34changing shoes by the door. I was sitting at the dining table eating cereal. My spoon stopped in midair.
00:39:43Why my room? Your room gets the best natural light. Ashley hasn't been feeling well lately,
00:39:48and the doctor said more sunlight would be good for her. Ethan's room has a window too. Your brother
00:39:53is a boy. Ashley is a girl. How could they share a room? Then let her stay with Chloe. Chloe
00:39:57needs
00:39:57space to stretch at night. Your room only has a bed and a desk. It's easy to clear out. How
00:40:02long is she
00:40:02staying? About half a month. Her summer program is over here. I didn't argue anymore. Experience had taught
00:40:07me a long time ago that arguing was useless. That afternoon, Ashley came in dragging two large
00:40:13suitcases, smiling sweetly. Auntie? Uncle? You're here! You're here! Come in! Mom was so warm,
00:40:23as if an important guest had arrived. Ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the
00:40:29doorway. Auntie, can this bookshelf be moved out? I want to put a vanity mirror here. Of course. Mallory,
00:40:37move the bookshelf out. On my bookshelf were three years of notebooks, reference books, and a few
00:40:43certificates. It took me an hour to move everything into a corner of Chloe's room. That night, I laid a
00:40:49mattress on the floor of Chloe's room. Sis, why don't you sleep on the bed? I'll sleep on the floor.
00:40:56No, the floor is fine. Ashley is actually okay. Don't be upset. Ashley was never what upset me.
00:41:06What hurt was that in this house, I was always the one expected to give way. On the third day,
00:41:13I went
00:41:13back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find Ashley flipping through my math
00:41:18competition notes. These are yours? Your handwriting is so neat. Yeah. Please put them back. I was just
00:41:24looking. You're way too protective of this stuff. She casually put the notebook back on the desk. I glanced
00:41:30over and suddenly realized one was missing. There was a blue one on the desk. Where is it? I didn't
00:41:34touch it. I didn't see it. I searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can.
00:41:39Half the cover had been torn off, and several pages inside were soaked with coffee. The writing
00:41:44blurred into smears. It was the problem-solving notebook I had been organizing since freshman year.
00:41:48Three years. I only had that one copy. Ashley, this? Oh, maybe I knocked it over when I was carrying
00:41:54coffee.
00:41:54Just write another one. I stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook, my hands shaking.
00:42:02I took the notebook back to Chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer.
00:42:08Where the writing was blurred, I slowly filled it back in with a pencil.
00:42:15I worked until one in the morning. The next morning, Ashley sat in my old seat,
00:42:19chatting happily with Mom. No one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark,
00:42:24or what had happened last night. And I no longer needed to wait for that one last time.
00:42:29From that day on, I began preparing to leave. Until the day I received my acceptance letter,
00:42:34I knew the time had come to leave this house. I packed my suitcase and bought a Greyhouse ticket
00:42:38for the early dawn departure the next day. The destination was Pittsburgh. Then I walked to the
00:42:43door and placed my house key on the small entryway table. I left the group chat and deactivated my old
00:42:48phone
00:42:48number. The screen went dark. The whole world suddenly became much quieter. I pulled my suitcase,
00:42:57opened the door, and closed it softly behind me.
00:43:17This family celebrates everyone's birthday. Everyone's but mine. Because my parents only love
00:43:23my twin siblings, Ethan and Chloe. They don't love me. When Ethan wants a birthday party, my parents book a
00:43:30private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance. When it's Chloe's turn and she wants to
00:43:36go to Six Flags, the whole family goes. Mom even posts nine photos on Instagram. But on my birthday,
00:43:42this house always treats it like any other day. I thought turning 18 would be different. That morning,
00:43:48I got up early on purpose, put on light makeup, and sat on the living room couch to wait. Mom
00:43:55walked
00:43:55past me on her way out, carrying Chloe's dance bag. Heat up your own lunch. I'm taking Chloe to her
00:44:01intensive class. Dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard. Ethan called him to go play basketball
00:44:08at the park, and the two of them left soon after. At noon, I was the only one left in
00:44:13the house.
00:44:14I sent a message in the family group chat. I'm 18 today. No one replied. At seven that night,
00:44:21everybody came home. No one sang. No one felt like anything was missing. I was 18 now. At last,
00:44:29I could decide for myself where I wanted to go. Mallory, delete that message from the group chat.
00:44:36I almost missed Grandpa's voice message. Ethan didn't even look up. He tapped the edge of his plate,
00:44:43lightly with his dinner knife, signaling Mom to give him more ribs.
00:44:49I looked down at my phone. The message in the family chat, I'm 18 today, was still sitting there.
00:44:55No one had replied. Mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of
00:45:01the table.
00:45:04All right. No phones at dinner. I looked at the food on the table. Ethan liked ribs. Chloe liked mac
00:45:13and
00:45:13cheese. Mom had made the salad for herself. Not a single dish was for me. I liked seafood.
00:45:20Grilled salmon was my favorite. I had said it so many times. No one in this family remembered.
00:45:28Dad, today... Dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me. The next second, he turned back to Ethan.
00:45:36How's your wrist from basketball this afternoon? Does the sprain still hurt?
00:45:41It's okay. Shoot. It aches a little when I shoot. I'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow.
00:45:46My words died in mid-air. I finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes. I turned the faucet
00:45:53on high.
00:45:56From the living room came the sound of Chloe practicing ballet basics, her toes landing
00:46:01against the floor one by one. Mom counted beats beside her. Ethan was playing Xbox in his room,
00:46:06shouting every few minutes. Dad was on the couch with his iPad. Everyone in this house had something
00:46:11of their own. Everyone had someone answering them. Except me. I stood in the kitchen, washing
00:46:20platelets and cups for five people. The water was loud. Loud enough that even if I cried, no one would
00:46:28hear. After the dishes, I went back to my room and shut the door. My phone lit up. It was
00:46:33a message
00:46:34in the class group chat. It was the only happy birthday I had received all day from a classmate
00:46:38I had known for less than a year. I replied, thank you. Then I opened my photo album and kept
00:46:43scrolling
00:46:43back. After I turned six, Mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them. Most of the photos
00:46:49were of them. I scrolled for a long time before I finally found one. It was from when I was
00:46:54nine and had
00:46:55entered the school speech contest. Mom had taken it from the audience. The photo was blurry. Only
00:47:01half my body was in it because the other half of the frame was Chloe in the front row, turning
00:47:06back
00:47:06toward the camera with a bright smile. I stood off stage in front of the microphone, my face barely
00:47:13visible. The phone screen dimmed and my face appeared in the black reflection. 18-year-old Mallory
00:47:20Hayes had spent the whole morning putting on makeup, waited all day, and still hadn't gotten a single
00:47:25happy birthday. Mom's voice came from outside the door. Mallory, wake your sister at seven tomorrow
00:47:33morning. She has training at 8.30. Okay.
00:47:41Hey, sis. It's seven. Chloe had woken up on her own. She stood in my doorway in a pink leotard,
00:47:47her hair half-tied. I checked my phone. 6.53. My alarm hadn't even gone off.
00:47:54You got up by yourself? Yeah. I set an alarm. Mom told you to wake me,
00:48:00but I was afraid you didn't sleep well last night. She said it so casually, but the words still stung.
00:48:06She knew I hadn't slept well last night. I'll help you tie your hair. No, it's fine. I can do
00:48:13it.
00:48:16She turned and left. Chloe had always been like that with me. She wasn't cruel. She just wasn't close.
00:48:25She called me sis, but the word carried no weight. The twins had their own rhythm,
00:48:31and I had never been able to enter it. At breakfast, Mom was warming milk for Chloe. Ethan wasn't up
00:48:38yet.
00:48:39Mallory, have you eaten? I have. I hadn't. She didn't even check whether there was a bowl I'd used on
00:48:46the table.
00:48:47She just nodded. Chloe, did you pack your water bottle? It's hot today. Drink more water.
00:48:53I did. Mally, drive your sister there. She still doesn't know the stops near the training center.
00:49:00Chloe had been going to that training center for two years. Mom still said she didn't know the way.
00:49:06Okay. As we were leaving, Ethan finally got up and called from his doorway. Mom, what's for breakfast?
00:49:15I left you a bagel and yogurt on the table. A bagel and yogurt. Ethan's regular breakfast.
00:49:22No one had ever asked what I wanted in the morning. On the way to the training center,
00:49:27Chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone.
00:49:31She wasn't trying to be cold. It just never occurred to her to talk to me.
00:49:38Sis? When she suddenly spoke, my palm tightened on the wheel. What? That message you sent in the
00:49:47group chat yesterday? Ethan told you to delete it? Yeah. Did you? No. She nodded, then lowered her head to
00:49:59look at her phone again. I waited for a long time, waiting for her to say, happy birthday. She didn't.
00:50:06When we reached the training center, she unbuckled her seat belt.
00:50:09Sis, I'm here. Yeah. Train hard. Can you pick me up this afternoon? I finish at 5.
00:50:15I have a study group this afternoon. That was a lie. I had nothing this afternoon.
00:50:21I just didn't want to go. Then I'll ask Mom to pick me up. Okay.
00:50:25At 4.50 that afternoon, Mom sent a message in the family group chat.
00:50:30Chloe finishes training at 5. Who can pick her up? I'm in a meeting.
00:50:34I'm at a friend's house. Mallory? Aren't you free this afternoon?
00:50:38I looked at that message. She started with, who can pick her up? But in the end,
00:50:42it still landed on me. It's on your way anyway, right? Just go pick her up.
00:50:46It wasn't on my way at all. But in this family, my road was always on the way.
00:50:50My time was always free. I typed okay and sent it. Then I turned my phone face down on the
00:50:55desk.
00:50:58Suddenly, I wondered, what would happen if one day I didn't reply with okay? If I turned off my phone,
00:51:07canceled my number, and disappeared too? Would they first panic because no one could pick up Chloe?
00:51:12Or would they think of me first? I knew the answer. When I picked Chloe up,
00:51:17her face was flushed from training, and her hair was damp.
00:51:20Sis, I'm thirsty. Where's your water bottle?
00:51:23I finished it. I handed her the spare bottle of water in the car.
00:51:27Thanks, sis.
00:51:29On the way home, she soon fell asleep against the window. I adjusted the air conditionings
00:51:33so the car wouldn't be so cold. She was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around.
00:51:37And most of the roads I had driven through this city had been for someone else, but not for much
00:51:42longer.
00:51:43Not long after, the school college counselor called me into her office.
00:51:47Mallory Hayes, I saw your awards record. Honorable Ments in the National Math Olympias.
00:51:52That's impressive. Awards like that carry real weight. Which schools are you considering for
00:51:56early applications? I'm still looking. What do your parents think? I haven't told them yet.
00:52:01Something this important, and you're not discussing it with your family first?
00:52:05I want to look into it myself first. I knew that even if I told them, no one would take
00:52:10it seriously.
00:52:10On last month's mock examine, I ranked third in the entire grade. I took a photo of my report card
00:52:14and sent it to the family group chat. My third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very
00:52:18short while. All it got from mom was one sentence. Not bad. The next message was a video mom sent
00:52:22of Chloe dancing. That afternoon, when I got home, I found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and
00:52:27flyers on the coffee table. It said, Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. Your daughter, Mallory Hayes,
00:52:33has received an honorable mention in the National High School Mathematics Olympiad. Two months had passed.
00:52:38The envelope hadn't even been opened. It was tucked between bills and pizza courons,
00:52:42completely forgotten. At dinner, mom answered a FaceTime call from my aunt. My aunt asked about
00:52:47Ethan's swim meet. Mom said he had taken second place in the district, pride filling her voice.
00:52:52My aunt asked about Chloe's dance competition. Mom said she had won gold at regionals and the judges
00:52:57had praised how steady she was off dyes. How's Mallory? She's applying to college soon too, right?
00:53:04She's doing fine. Third in my grade, a National Math Olympiac award. In mom's mouth, all of it became
00:53:10doing fine. I sat at the dining table, still holding the award letter that had been forgotten for two
00:53:15months. No one asked how I had been lately. No one turned to me and said, Mallory, what about you?
00:53:19I went back to my room, opened my laptop, and started looking up colleges that would actually care about
00:53:24competition backgrounds. In the end, I stopped at Carnegie Mellon. Hundreds of miles away from home,
00:53:29no one would remember me, only when they needed someone to pick up my sister. I opened the
00:53:33application page. My fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds before I finally closed it.
00:53:39I decided to try one more time. If they still couldn't see me this time, I would leave. Completely.
00:53:49Mallory, Ashley is coming to stay with us for a while.
00:53:53Give her your room and share with Chloe for now. Saturday morning, mom said it casually while
00:53:58changing shoes by the door. I was sitting at the dining table eating cereal. My spoon stopped in
00:54:03mid-air. Why my room? Your room gets the best natural light. Ashley hasn't been feeling well
00:54:12lately and the doctor said more sunlight would be good for her. Ethan's room has a window too.
00:54:16Your brother is a boy. Ashley is a girl. How could they share a room? Then let her stay with
00:54:20Chloe.
00:54:21Chloe needs space to stretch at night. Your room only has a bed and a desk. It's easy to clear
00:54:25out.
00:54:25How long is she staying? About half a month. Her summer program is over here.
00:54:29I didn't argue anymore. Experience had taught me a long time ago that arguing was useless.
00:54:34That afternoon, Ashley came in dragging two large suitcases, smiling sweetly.
00:54:41Auntie? Uncle? You're here! You're here! Come in! Mom was so warm, as if an important guest had arrived.
00:54:49Ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the doorway.
00:54:53Auntie, can this bookshelf be moved out? I want to put a vanity mirror here.
00:54:58Of course. Mallory, move the bookshelf out. On my bookshelf were three years of notebooks,
00:55:05reference books, and a few certificates. It took me an hour to move everything into a corner of Chloe's
00:55:11room. That night, I laid a mattress on the floor of Chloe's room.
00:55:16Ashley's room. Sis, why don't you sleep on the bed? I'll sleep on the floor.
00:55:20No, the floor is fine. Ashley is actually okay. Don't be upset. Ashley was never what upset me.
00:55:30What hurt was that in this house, I was always the one expected to give way.
00:55:36On the third day, I went back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find
00:55:40Ashley
00:55:41flipping through my math competition notes. These are yours? Your handwriting is so neat.
00:55:46Yeah. Please put them back. I was just looking. You're way too protective of this stuff.
00:55:50She casually put the notebook back on the desk. I glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing.
00:55:56There was a blue one on the desk. Where is it? I didn't touch it. I didn't see it.
00:56:00I searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can. Half the cover had been torn off,
00:56:05and several pages inside were soaked with coffee. The writing blurred into smears. It was the
00:56:09problem-solving notebook I had been organizing since freshman year. Three years. I only had that
00:56:14one copy. Ashley, this? Oh, maybe I knocked it over when I was carrying coffee. Just write another one.
00:56:19I stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook, my hands shaking.
00:56:26I took the notebook back to Chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer.
00:56:32Where the writing was blurred, I slowly filled it back in with a pencil.
00:56:39I worked until one in the morning. The next morning, Ashley sat in my old seat,
00:56:44chatting happily with Mom. No one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark,
00:56:48or what had happened last night, and I no longer needed to wait for that one last time.
00:56:53From that day on, I began preparing to leave. Until the day I received my acceptance letter,
00:56:58I knew the time had come to leave this house. I packed my suitcase and bought a Greyhouse ticket
00:57:02for the early dawn departure the next day. The destination was Pittsburgh. Then I walked to the
00:57:07door and placed my house key on the small entryway table. I left the group chat and deactivated my old
00:57:12phone number. The screen went dark. The whole world suddenly became much quieter.
00:57:19I pulled my suitcase, opened the door, and closed it softly behind me.
00:57:41This family celebrates everyone's birthday. Everyone's but mine. Because my parents only love
00:57:47my twin siblings, Ethan and Chloe. They don't love me. When Ethan wants a birthday party,
00:57:53my parents book a private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance.
00:57:58When it's Chloe's turn and she wants to go to Six Flags, the whole family goes.
00:58:02Mom even posts nine photos on Instagram.
00:58:04But on my birthday, this house always treats it like any other day. I thought turning 18 would be
00:58:10different. That morning, I got up early on purpose, put on light makeup, and sat on the living room
00:58:17couch to wait. Mom walked past me on her way out, carrying Chloe's dance bag.
00:58:22Heat up your own lunch. I'm taking Chloe to her intensive class.
00:58:27Dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard. Ethan called him to go play basketball at the park,
00:58:33and the two of them left soon after. At noon, I was the only one left in the house.
00:58:38I sent a message in the family group chat. I'm 18 today. No one replied. At seven that night,
00:58:45everybody came home. No one sang. No one felt like anything was missing. I was 18 now. At last,
00:58:53I could decide for myself where I wanted to go. Mallory, delete that message from the group chat.
00:59:00I almost missed Grandpa's voice message. Ethan didn't even look up.
00:59:05He tapped the edge of his plate, lightly with his dinner knife, signaling Mom to give him more ribs.
00:59:13I looked down at my phone. The message in the family chat, I'm 18 today, was still sitting there.
00:59:19No one had replied. Mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of
00:59:25the table.
00:59:28All right. No phones at dinner. I looked at the food on the table. Ethan liked ribs. Chloe liked mac
00:59:37and
00:59:37cheese. Mom had made the salad for herself. Not a single dish was for me. I liked seafood.
00:59:44Grilled salmon was my favorite. I had said it so many times. No one in this family remembered.
00:59:52Dad, today... Dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me. The next second, he turned back to Ethan.
01:00:01How's your wrist from basketball this afternoon? Does the sprain still hurt?
01:00:05It's okay. Shoot. It aches a little when I shoot. I'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow.
01:00:10My words died in mid-air.
01:00:13I finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes. I turned the faucet on high.
01:00:20From the living room came the sound of Chloe practicing ballet basics,
01:00:24her toes landing against the floor one by one. Mom counted beats beside her. Ethan was playing
01:00:29xbox in his room, shouting every few minutes. Dad was on the couch with his iPad. Everyone in this
01:00:35house had something of their own. Everyone had someone answering them. Except me. I stood in the
01:00:43kitchen, washing platelets and cups for five people. The water was loud. Loud enough that even if I cried,
01:00:51no one would hear. After the dishes, I went back to my room and shut the door. My phone lit
01:00:57up. It was
01:00:57a message in the class group chat. It was the only happy birthday I had received all day from a
01:01:02classmate I had known for less than a year. I replied, thank you. Then I opened my photo album
01:01:07and kept scrolling back. After I turned six, Mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them.
01:01:12Most of the photos were of them. I scrolled for a long time before I finally found one.
01:01:17It was from when I was nine and had entered the school speech contest. Mom had taken it from the
01:01:22audience. The photo was blurry. Only half my body was in it because the other half of the frame was
01:01:28Chloe in the front row, turning back toward the camera with a bright smile. I stood off stage in
01:01:34front of the microphone, my face barely visible. The phone screen dimmed and my face appeared in the
01:01:41black reflection. Eighteen-year-old Mallory Hayes had spent the whole morning putting on makeup,
01:01:47waited all day, and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday. Mom's voice came from outside the door.
01:01:54Mallory, wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning. She has training at 8.30.
01:02:02Okay.
01:02:05Hey sis, it's seven. Chloe had woken up on her own. She stood in my doorway in a pink
01:02:11leotard, her hair half-tied. I checked my phone. 6.53. My alarm hadn't even gone off.
01:02:18You got up by yourself?
01:02:20Yeah. I set an alarm. Mom told you to wake me, but I was afraid you didn't sleep well last
01:02:26night.
01:02:27She said it so casually, but the words still stung. She knew I hadn't slept well last night.
01:02:33I'll help you tie your hair. No, it's fine. I can do it.
01:02:40She turned and left. Chloe had always been like that with me. She wasn't cruel. She just wasn't
01:02:48close. She called me sis, but the word carried no weight. The twins had their own rhythm,
01:02:55and I had never been able to enter it. At breakfast, Mom was warming milk for Chloe. Ethan wasn't up
01:03:02yet.
01:03:03Mallory, have you eaten? I have.
01:03:06I hadn't. She didn't even check whether there was a bowl I'd used on the table. She just nodded.
01:03:13Chloe, did you pack your water bottle? It's hot today. Drink more water.
01:03:17I did.
01:03:19Mallory, drive your sister there. She still doesn't know the stops near the training center.
01:03:23Chloe had been going to that training center for two years. Mom still said she didn't know the way.
01:03:30Okay.
01:03:32As we were leaving, Ethan finally got up and called from his doorway.
01:03:36Mom, what's for breakfast?
01:03:39I left you a bagel and yogurt on the table.
01:03:41A bagel and yogurt. Ethan's regular breakfast.
01:03:46No one had ever asked what I wanted in the morning.
01:03:48On the way to the training center, Chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone.
01:03:55She wasn't trying to be cold. It just never occurred to her to talk to me.
01:04:02Sis?
01:04:03When she suddenly spoke, my palm tightened on the wheel.
01:04:08What?
01:04:09That message you sent in the group chat yesterday? Ethan told you to delete it?
01:04:16Yeah. Did you? No.
01:04:21She nodded, then lowered her head to look at her phone again.
01:04:24I waited for a long time, waiting for her to say, happy birthday. She didn't.
01:04:30When we reached the training center, she unbuckled her seat belt.
01:04:33Sis, I'm here.
01:04:35Yeah. Train hard.
01:04:37Can you pick me up this afternoon? I finish at five.
01:04:39I have a study group this afternoon.
01:04:42That was a lie. I had nothing this afternoon. I just didn't want to go.
01:04:46Then I'll ask mom to pick me up.
01:04:48Okay.
01:04:50At 4.50 that afternoon, mom sent a message in the family group chat.
01:04:54Chloe finishes training at five. Who can pick her up?
01:04:57I'm in a meeting.
01:04:58I'm at a friend's house.
01:05:00Mallory? Aren't you free this afternoon?
01:05:02I looked at that message.
01:05:03She started with who can pick her up, but in the end it still landed on me.
01:05:07It's on your way anyway, right? Just go pick her up.
01:05:10It wasn't on my way at all, but in this family, my road was always on the way.
01:05:14My time was always free.
01:05:15I typed okay and sent it. Then I turned my phone face down on the desk.
01:05:22Suddenly, I wondered, what would happen if one day I didn't reply with okay?
01:05:29If I turned off my phone, canceled my number, and disappeared too, would they first panic,
01:05:34because no one could pick up Chloe? Or would they think of me first? I knew the answer.
01:05:40When I picked Chloe up, her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp.
01:05:44Sis, I'm thirsty.
01:05:46Where's your water bottle?
01:05:47Finished it.
01:05:49I handed her the spare bottle of water in the car.
01:05:51Thanks, sis.
01:05:53On the way home, she soon fell asleep against the window.
01:05:56I adjusted the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold.
01:05:59She was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around,
01:06:01and most of the roads I had driven through this city had been for someone else, but not for much
01:06:06longer.
01:06:07Not long after, the school college counselor called me into her office.
01:06:11Mallory Hayes, I saw your awards record. Honorable Ments in the National Math Olympias.
01:06:16That's impressive. Awards like that carry real weight.
01:06:19Which schools are you considering for early applications?
01:06:21I'm still looking.
01:06:22What do your parents think?
01:06:24I haven't told them yet.
01:06:26Something this important, and you're not discussing it with your family first?
01:06:29I want to look into it myself first.
01:06:31I knew that even if I told them, no one would take it seriously.
01:06:34On last month's mock exam, I ranked third in the entire grade.
01:06:37I took a photo of my report card and sent it to the family group chat.
01:06:40My third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short while.
01:06:42All it got from mom was one sentence, not bad.
01:06:45The next message was a video mom sent of Chloe dancing.
01:06:47That afternoon, when I got home, I found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and
01:06:51flyers on the coffee table. It said,
01:06:54Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes.
01:06:56Your daughter, Mallory Hayes, has received an honorable mention
01:06:59in the National High School Mathematics Olympiad.
01:07:01Two months had passed. The envelope hadn't even been opened.
01:07:04It was tucked between bills and pizza courons, completely forgotten.
01:07:07At dinner, mom answered a FaceTime call from my aunt.
01:07:10My aunt asked about Ethan's swim meet.
01:07:12Mom said he had taken second place in the district, pride filling her voice.
01:07:16My aunt asked about Chloe's dance competition.
01:07:18Mom said she had won gold at regionals,
01:07:20and the judges had praised how steady she was off dyes.
01:07:23How's Mallory? She's applying to college soon too, right?
01:07:28She's doing fine.
01:07:30Third in my grade, a National Math Olympiac award. In mom's mouth, all of it became doing fine.
01:07:35I sat at the dining table, still holding the award letter that had been forgotten for two months.
01:07:39No one asked how I had been lately. No one turned to me and said,
01:07:42Mallory, what about you? I went back to my room, opened my laptop, and started looking up colleges that
01:07:47would actually care about competition backgrounds. In the end, I stopped at Carnegie Mellon.
01:07:51Hundreds of miles away from home, no one would remember me, only when they needed someone to
01:07:55pick up my sister. I opened the application page. My fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds
01:08:00before I finally closed it. I decided to try one more time. If they still couldn't see me this time,
01:08:07I would leave. Completely. Mallory, Ashley is coming to stay with us for a while.
01:08:17Give her your room and share with Chloe for now. Saturday morning, mom said it casually while
01:08:22changing shoes by the door. I was sitting at the dining table eating cereal. My spoon stopped in mid-air.
01:08:31Why my room? Your room gets the best natural light.
01:08:35Ashley hasn't been feeling well lately, and the doctor said more sunlight would be good for her.
01:08:39Ethan's room has a window too. Your brother is a boy. Ashley is a girl. How could they share a
01:08:43room?
01:08:43Then let her stay with Chloe. Chloe needs space to stretch at night. Your room only has a bed and
01:08:48a desk. It's easy to clear out. How long is she staying? About half a month. Her summer program is
01:08:52over here. I didn't argue anymore. Experience had taught me a long time ago that arguing was useless.
01:08:58That afternoon, Ashley came in dragging two large suitcases, smiling sweetly.
01:09:05Auntie? Uncle? You're here! You're here! Come in! Mom was so warm, as if an important guest had arrived.
01:09:13Ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the doorway.
01:09:17Auntie, can this bookshelf be moved out? I want to put a vanity mirror here.
01:09:22Of course. Mallory, move the bookshelf out. On my bookshelf were three years of notebooks,
01:09:29reference books, and a few certificates. It took me an hour to move everything into a corner of Chloe's room.
01:09:35That night, I laid a mattress on the floor of Chloe's room.
01:09:40Sis, why don't you sleep on the bed? I'll sleep on the floor.
01:09:44No, the floor is fine. Ashley is actually okay. Don't be upset. Ashley was never what upset me.
01:09:54What hurt was that in this house, I was always the one expected to give way.
01:10:00On the third day, I went back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find
01:10:04Ashley
01:10:05flipping through my math competition notes. These are yours? Your handwriting is so neat.
01:10:10Yeah. Please put them back.
01:10:12I was just looking. You're way too protective of this stuff.
01:10:14She casually put the notebook back on the desk. I glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing.
01:10:20There was a blue one on the desk. Where is it? I didn't touch it. I didn't see it.
01:10:24I searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can.
01:10:27Half the cover had been torn off, and several pages inside were soaked with coffee. The writing
01:10:32blurred into smears. It was the problem-solving notebook I had been organizing since freshman year.
01:10:36Three years. I only had that one copy. Ashley, this? Oh, maybe I knocked it over when I was carrying
01:10:42coffee.
01:10:42Just write another one. I stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook, my hands shaking.
01:10:50I took the notebook back to Chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer.
01:10:56Where the writing was blurred, I slowly filled it back in with a pencil.
01:11:03I worked until one in the morning. The next morning, Ashley sat in my old seat,
01:11:07chatting happily with Mom. No one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark,
01:11:11or what had happened last night. And I no longer needed to wait for that one last time.
01:11:17From that day on, I began preparing to leave. Until the day I received my acceptance letter,
01:11:22I knew the time had come to leave this house. I packed my suitcase and bought a Greyhouse ticket
01:11:26for the early dawn departure the next day. The destination was Pittsburgh. Then I walked to the
01:11:31door and placed my house key on the small entryway table. I left the group chat and deactivated my old
01:11:36phone number. The screen went dark. The whole world suddenly became much quieter. I pulled my suitcase,
01:11:45opened the door, and closed it softly behind me.
01:12:05This family celebrates everyone's birthday. Everyone's but mine. Because my parents only love
01:12:11my twin siblings, Ethan and Chloe. They don't love me. When Ethan wants a birthday party, my parents book a
01:12:18private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance. When it's Chloe's turn and she wants to
01:12:24go to Six Flags, the whole family goes. Mom even posts nine photos on Instagram. But on my birthday,
01:12:30this house always treats it like any other day. I thought turning 18 would be different.
01:12:35That morning, I got up early on purpose, put on light makeup, and sat on the living room couch to
01:12:41wait.
01:12:42Mom walked past me on her way out, carrying Chloe's dance bag. Heat up your own lunch. I'm taking Chloe
01:12:49to
01:12:49her intensive class. Dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard. Ethan called him to go play basketball
01:12:56at the park, and the two of them left soon after. At noon, I was the only one left in
01:13:01the house. I sent a
01:13:03message in the family group chat. I'm 18 today. No one replied. At seven that night, everybody came home.
01:13:11No one sang. No one felt like anything was missing. I was 18 now. At last, I could decide for
01:13:18myself
01:13:19where I wanted to go. Mallory, delete that message from the group chat. I almost missed grandpa's voice
01:13:25message. Ethan didn't even look up. He tapped the edge of his plate lightly with his dinner knife,
01:13:33signaling mom to give him more ribs. I looked down at my phone. The message in the family chat,
01:13:40I'm 18 today, was still sitting there. No one had replied. Mom came over with a plate of garlic bread
01:13:48and set it in the middle of the table. All right. No phones at dinner. I looked at the food
01:13:57on the
01:13:57table. Ethan liked ribs. Chloe liked mac and cheese. Mom had made the salad for herself. Not a single
01:14:05dish was for me. I liked seafood. Grilled salmon was my favorite. I had said it so many times. No
01:14:13one in
01:14:13this family remembered. Dad, today... Dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me. The next second,
01:14:23he turned back to Ethan. How's your wrist from basketball this afternoon? Does the sprain still
01:14:28hurt? It's okay. Shoot. It aches a little when I shoot. I'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow.
01:14:34My words died in midair. I finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes. I turned the faucet on
01:14:42high.
01:14:44From the living room came the sound of Chloe practicing ballet basics. Her toes landing
01:14:49against the floor one by one. Mom counted beats beside her. Ethan was playing Xbox in his room,
01:14:54shouting every few minutes. Dad was on the couch with his iPad. Everyone in this house had something
01:14:59of their own. Everyone had someone answering them. Except me. I stood in the kitchen, washing
01:15:09platelets and cups for five people. The water was loud. Loud enough that even if I cried,
01:15:15no one would hear. After the dishes, I went back to my room and shut the door. My phone lit
01:15:21up. It was
01:15:21a message in the class group chat. It was the only happy birthday I had received all day from a
01:15:26classmate
01:15:26I had known for less than a year. I replied, thank you. Then I opened my photo album and kept
01:15:31scrolling
01:15:31back. After I turned six, Mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them. Most of the photos
01:15:37were of them. I scrolled for a long time before I finally found one. It was from when I was
01:15:42nine and
01:15:43had entered the school speech contest. Mom had taken it from the audience. The photo was blurry. Only
01:15:49half my body was in it because the other half of the frame was Chloe in the front row, turning
01:15:54back
01:15:54toward the camera with a bright smile. I stood off stage in front of the microphone, my face barely
01:16:01visible. The phone screen dimmed and my face appeared in the black reflection. 18 year old Mallory
01:16:08Hayes had spent the whole morning putting on makeup, waited all day and still hadn't gotten a single
01:16:13happy birthday. Mom's voice came from outside the door. Mallory, wake your sister at seven tomorrow
01:16:21morning. She has training at 8 30. Okay. Hey sis, it's seven. Chloe had woken up on her own.
01:16:33She stood in my doorway in a pink leotard, her hair half tied. I checked my phone, 6 53. My
01:16:40alarm hadn't
01:16:40even gone off. You got up by yourself? Yeah, I set an alarm. Mom told you to wake me but
01:16:48I was afraid you
01:16:49didn't sleep well last night. She said it so casually, but the words still stung. She knew I
01:16:55hadn't slept well last night. I'll help you tie your hair. No, it's fine. I can do it.
01:17:04She turned and left. Chloe had always been like that with me. She wasn't cruel. She just wasn't close.
01:17:13She called me sis, but the word carried no weight. The twins had their own rhythm,
01:17:20and I had never been able to enter it. At breakfast, Mom was warming milk for Chloe. Ethan wasn't up
01:17:26yet.
01:17:27Mally, have you eaten? I have. I hadn't. She didn't even check whether there was a bowl I'd used on
01:17:34the
01:17:34table. She just nodded. Chloe, did you pack your water bottle? It's hot today. Drink more water.
01:17:41I did. Mally, drive your sister there. She still doesn't know the stops near the training center.
01:17:48Chloe had been going to that training center for two years. Mom still said she didn't know the way.
01:17:54Okay. As we were leaving, Ethan finally got up and called from his doorway.
01:18:00Mom, what's for breakfast? I left you a bagel and yogurt on the table.
01:18:06A bagel and yogurt. Ethan's regular breakfast. No one had ever asked what I wanted in the morning.
01:18:13On the way to the training center, Chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone.
01:18:19She wasn't trying to be cold. It just never occurred to her to talk to me.
01:18:33What? That message you sent in the group chat yesterday? Ethan told you to delete it?
01:18:39Yeah. Did you? No.
01:18:44She nodded, then lowered her head to look at her phone again. I waited for a long time,
01:18:49waiting for her to say, happy birthday. She didn't. When we reached the training center,
01:18:56she unbuckled her seat belt. Sis, I'm here. Yeah. Train hard. Can you pick me up this afternoon?
01:19:03I finish at 5. I have a study group this afternoon. That was a lie. I had nothing this afternoon.
01:19:09I just didn't want to go. Then I'll ask mom to pick me up. Okay. At 4.50 that afternoon,
01:19:15mom sent a message in the family group chat. Chloe finishes training at 5. Who can pick her up?
01:19:21I'm in a meeting. I'm at a friend's house. Mallory, aren't you free this afternoon?
01:19:26I looked at that message. She started with who can pick her up, but in the end,
01:19:30it still landed on me. It's on your way anyway, right? Just go pick her up. It wasn't on my
01:19:35way at
01:19:35all. But in this family, my road was always on the way. My time was always free. I typed okay
01:19:41and sent it.
01:19:41Then I turned my phone face down on the desk. Suddenly, I wondered, what would happen if one
01:19:51day I didn't reply with okay? If I turned off my phone, canceled my number, and disappeared too?
01:19:57Would they first panic because no one could pick up Chloe? Or would they think of me first?
01:20:02I knew the answer. When I picked Chloe up, her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp.
01:20:08Sis, I'm thirsty. Where's your water bottle? Finished it. I handed her the spare bottle of
01:20:14water in the car. Thanks, sis. On the way home, she soon fell asleep against the window. I adjusted
01:20:20the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold. She was the little princess everyone in the
01:20:24family revolved around, and most of the roads I had driven through this city had been for someone else,
01:20:29but not for much longer. Not long after, the school college counselor called me into her office.
01:20:35Mallory Hayes, I saw your awards record. Honorable Ments in the National Math Olympias. That's
01:20:40impressive. Awards like that carry real weight. Which schools are you considering for early
01:20:45applications? I'm still looking. What do your parents think? I haven't told them yet. Something
01:20:50this important, and you're not discussing it with your family first? I want to look into it myself
01:20:55first. I knew that even if I told them, no one would take it seriously. On last month's mock
01:20:59examine, I ranked third in the entire grade. I took a photo of my report card and sent it to
01:21:03the family
01:21:03group chat. My third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short while. All it got
01:21:07from mom was one sentence. Not bad. The next message was a video mom sent of Chloe dancing.
01:21:11That afternoon, when I got home, I found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on the
01:21:16coffee table. It said, Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. Your daughter, Mallory Hayes,
01:21:21has received an honorable mention in the National High School Mathematics Olympiad.
01:21:25Two months had passed. The envelope hadn't even been opened. It was tucked between bills and pizza
01:21:29curans, completely forgotten. At dinner, mom answered a FaceTime call from my aunt. My aunt
01:21:35asked about Ethan's swim meet. Mom said he had taken second place in the district, pride filling her
01:21:39voice. My aunt asked about Chloe's dance competition. Mom said she had won gold at regionals, and the
01:21:45judges had praised how steady she was off dyes. How's Mallory? She's applying to college soon too, right?
01:21:52She's doing fine. Third in my grade, a National Math Olympiac award. In mom's mouth, all of it became
01:21:58doing fine. I sat at the dining table, still holding the award letter that had been forgotten for two
01:22:03months. No one asked how I had been lately. No one turned to me and said, Mallory, what about you?
01:22:07I went back to my room, opened my laptop, and started looking up colleges that would actually
01:22:11care about competition backgrounds. In the end, I stopped at Carnegie Mellon. Hundreds of miles away
01:22:16from home, no one would remember me, only when they needed someone to pick up my sister. I opened the
01:22:21application page. My fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds before I finally closed it.
01:22:27I decided to try one more time. If they still couldn't see me this time, I would leave. Completely.
01:22:37Mallory, Ashley is coming to stay with us for a while.
01:22:41Give her your room and share with Chloe for now. Saturday morning, mom said it casually while changing
01:22:46shoes by the door. I was sitting at the dining table eating cereal. My spoon stopped in mid-air.
01:22:55Why my room? Your room gets the best natural light. Ashley hasn't been feeling well lately,
01:23:00and the doctor said more sunlight would be good for her. Ethan's room has a window too. Your brother
01:23:05is a boy, Ashley is a girl. How could they share a room? Then let her stay with Chloe. Chloe
01:23:09needs
01:23:10space to stretch at night. Your room only has a bed and a desk. It's easy to clear out. How
01:23:14long is she
01:23:14staying? About half a month. Her summer program is over here. Okay. I didn't argue anymore. Experience had
01:23:19taught me a long time ago that arguing was useless. That afternoon, Ashley came in dragging two large
01:23:25suitcases, smiling sweetly. Auntie? Uncle? You're here! You're here! Come in! Mom was so warm,
01:23:35happy to see you! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here!
01:23:42Auntie, can this bookshelf be moved out? I want to put a vanity mirror here.
01:23:47Of course. Mallory, move the bookshelf out. On my bookshelf were three years of notebooks,
01:23:53reference books, and a few certificates. It took me an hour to move everything into a corner of Chloe's
01:23:59room. That night, I laid a mattress on the floor of Chloe's room.
01:24:04Sis, why don't you sleep on the bed? I'll sleep on the floor.
01:24:08No, the floor is fine. Ashley is actually okay. Don't be upset. Ashley was never what upset me.
01:24:18What hurt was that in this house, I was always the one expected to give way.
01:24:24On the third day, I went back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find
01:24:28Ashley
01:24:29flipping through my math competition notes. These are yours? Your handwriting is so neat.
01:24:34Yeah. Please put them back. I was just looking. You're way too protective of this stuff.
01:24:38She casually put the notebook back on the desk. I glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing.
01:24:44There was a blue one on the desk. Where is it? I didn't touch it. I didn't see it.
01:24:48I searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can. Half the cover had been torn off,
01:24:53and several pages inside were soaked with coffee. The writing blurred into smears. It was the
01:24:57problem-solving notebook I had been organizing since freshman year. Three years. I only had that one
01:25:02copy. Ashley, this? Oh, maybe I knocked it over when I was carrying coffee. Just write another one.
01:25:07I stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook, my hands shaking.
01:25:14I took the notebook back to Chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer.
01:25:20Where the writing was blurred, I slowly filled it back in with a pencil.
01:25:27I worked until one in the morning. The next morning, Ashley sat in my old seat,
01:25:32chatting happily with Mom. No one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark,
01:25:36or what had happened last night. And I no longer needed to wait for that one last time.
01:25:41From that day on, I began preparing to leave. Until the day I received my acceptance letter,
01:25:46I knew the time had come to leave this house. I packed my suitcase and bought a Greyhouse ticket
01:25:50for the early dawn departure the next day. The destination was Pittsburgh. Then I walked to the
01:25:55door and placed my house key on the small entryway table. I left the group chat and deactivated my old
01:26:00phone number. The screen went dark. The whole world suddenly became much quieter. I pulled my suitcase,
01:26:09opened the door, and closed it softly behind me.
评论

推荐视频

  1. 🗡️ The Alpha Princess Is Gone for Good – He Slapped His Daughter. Then Her Prosthetic Limb Fell Off.
    Karma Reels
    15小时前
  2. 🗡️ You Ignored My Birthday So I Erased Myself From The Family – Eighteen Years of Being Invisible. One Day to Walk Away.
    Karma Reels
    16小时前
  3. The Alpha Princess Is Gone for Good (Full Movie) ~ They Ruined Her Life
    Toxic But Good
    3周前
  4. I Flew Home Pregnant Only To See His Secret ⚖️ Binge-Watch Full Episodes | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    21小时前
  5. 🤐He Went Crazy After My Fake Betrayal [FULL] The Ultimate Lie
    Toxic But Good
    2天前
  6. ⚖️Rejecting My Five Female Mates - Walking Away With Honor
    Toxic But Good
    2天前
  7. 📸You Can't Stop My Super X-Ray Vision EP15 [Binge Watch] - Revenge Drama
    Toxic But Good
    4天前
  8. Love Has No Turning Back 💍 [All Episodes] Cheating Husband Begs for Forgiveness | Free Eng Sub
    Toxic But Good
    4天前
  9. Brothers in Arms 🎲 [Free to Watch] HD Complete Drama - Vegas Survival #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    4天前
  10. Accidentally His The Dragon King Won't Let Go 🐲 [No Cut HD] Free to Watch | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    5天前
  11. 💅After I Took Back My Love [No Cut Binge, Full HD] - Too Late For Sorry | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    1周前
  12. 🐺[No Cut HD] All My Pets That I Raised Turned Into Dark Realm Bosses - Mom is Finally Home! | Eng Sub
    Toxic But Good
    1周前
  13. 🐉[Eng Sub] Accidentally His The Dragon King Won't Let Go | Full Movie HD - A Fantasy Romance
    Toxic But Good
    1周前
  14. 🐕The Alpha King Sold Me to the War God [Full Movie] HD - A Lycan King's Secret Love
    Toxic But Good
    1周前
  15. 👑(Binge-Watch Eng Sub) The Abyssal Tyrant’s Baby Calls Me Mommy ~ She Forgot Her Own Husband! | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    1周前
  16. 🥀[Free to Watch] I Faked My Death To Ruin My Mafia Husband - Ultimate Karma | Full Movie | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    1周前
  17. I Watched Them Love Her 🥀 [Binge Watch] Free Full Episodes | Heartbreak & New Beginnings
    Toxic But Good
    2周前
  18. Rejecting My Five Female Mates 🐺 [Full Movie] Free to Watch | Alpha Werewolf Betrayal
    Toxic But Good
    2周前
  19. 🏍️[Free to Watch] Tempted by My Bad Boy Stepbrother - A Dangerous Crush | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    2周前
  20. 💍[No Cut HD] The Mafia Boss's Contract Bride - From Penniless to Powerful! | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    2周前
  21. Fake Relationship, Real Superpowers! You Can't Stop My Super X Ray Vision [Binge Watch] | Dailymotion #ReelShort
    Toxic But Good
    2周前
  22. 🍃A Zombie Girl’s Journey Home (Binge-Watch) Full Episodes | Survival & Adventure Eng Sub
    Toxic But Good
    2周前
  23. Former Aide Claims She Was Asked to Make a ‘Hit List’ For Trump
    Veuer
    3年前
  24. 59 companies that are changing the world: From Tesla to Chobani
    Fortune
    3年前
  25. 3 Things to Know About Coco Gauff's Parents
    People
    3年前