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📢Notice: ReelShort Romance Shorts is an officially authorized publisher of ReelShort content.
You Ignored My Birthday So I Erased Myself From The Family isn't a traditional romance – it's a love story between a girl and her own worth. My family never remembered my birthday. Ethan got a steakhouse. Chloe got Six Flags and an Instagram post. I got silence. Every single year.
On my eighteenth, I woke up early. I put on makeup. I waited on the couch. By noon, I was alone. My family chat message – "I'm eighteen today! 🎉" – went unanswered. They came home at seven with ribs and mac and cheese. No cake. No candles. No song. Nothing was missing, to them.
✨ What actually worked for me:
- The quiet devastation – no screaming, no drama, just a girl realizing she deserves better
- The eighteenth birthday as a legal and emotional turning point
- The family's all-too-late realization that they lost her
- The self-growth arc – she doesn't get revenge, she gets a life
- The ending – walking away isn't bitter, it's self-respect
If you love stories about women who stop shrinking themselves to fit into spaces that were never meant for them, this one's for you. She didn't burn the house down. She just walked out the front door.
Have you ever felt invisible in your own home? Tell me 👇
— RSR, your go-to for the good stuff ✨
🎬Click ReelShort site link to see FULL HD Episodes 🔖https://www.reelshort.com/full-episodes/you-ignored-my-birthday-so-i-erased-myself-from-the-family-6aa14b83871c17602008654b
📢Notice: ReelShort Romance Shorts is an officially authorized publisher of ReelShort content.
You Ignored My Birthday So I Erased Myself From The Family isn't a traditional romance – it's a love story between a girl and her own worth. My family never remembered my birthday. Ethan got a steakhouse. Chloe got Six Flags and an Instagram post. I got silence. Every single year.
On my eighteenth, I woke up early. I put on makeup. I waited on the couch. By noon, I was alone. My family chat message – "I'm eighteen today! 🎉" – went unanswered. They came home at seven with ribs and mac and cheese. No cake. No candles. No song. Nothing was missing, to them.
✨ What actually worked for me:
- The quiet devastation – no screaming, no drama, just a girl realizing she deserves better
- The eighteenth birthday as a legal and emotional turning point
- The family's all-too-late realization that they lost her
- The self-growth arc – she doesn't get revenge, she gets a life
- The ending – walking away isn't bitter, it's self-respect
If you love stories about women who stop shrinking themselves to fit into spaces that were never meant for them, this one's for you. She didn't burn the house down. She just walked out the front door.
Have you ever felt invisible in your own home? Tell me 👇
— RSR, your go-to for the good stuff ✨
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:05mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table
00:00:11all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs chloe liked mac
00:00:20and cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was for me i liked seafood
00:00:27grilled salmon was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this family remembered dad
00:00:35today dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to ethan how's
00:00:44your
00:00:44wrist from basketball this afternoon does the sprain still hurt it's okay shoot it aches a little
00:00:50when i shoot i'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow my words died in midair
00:00:56i finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes i turned the faucet on high
00:01:03from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet basics her toes landing
00:01:08against the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox in his room
00:01:13shouting every few minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house had something
00:01:18of their own everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen washing platelets
00:01:28and cups for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one would hear
00:01:36after the dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it was a
00:01:40message in the
00:01:41class group chat this family celebrates everyone's birthday everyone's but mine because my parents only
00:01:48love my twin siblings ethan and chloe they don't love me when ethan wants a birthday party my parents
00:01:55book a private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance when it's chloe's turn and she
00:02:00wants to go to six flags the whole family goes mom even posts nine photos on instagram but on my
00:02:06birthday
00:02:07this house always treats it like any other day i thought turning 18 would be different
00:02:12that morning i got up early on purpose put on light makeup and sat on the living room couch to
00:02:18wait
00:02:19mom walked past me on her way out carrying chloe's dance bag heat up your own lunch i'm taking chloe
00:02:25to
00:02:26her intensive class dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard ethan called him to go play basketball at the
00:02:33park and the two of them left soon after at noon i was the only one left in the house
00:02:39i sent a message
00:02:40in the family group chat i'm 18 today no one replied at seven that night everybody came home no one
00:02:48sang
00:02:48no one felt like anything was missing i was 18 now at last i could decide for myself where i
00:02:56wanted to go
00:02:57mallory delete that message from the group chat i almost missed grandpa's voice message
00:03:03ethan didn't even look up he tapped the edge of his plate lightly with his dinner knife signaling mom
00:03:11to give him more ribs i looked down at my phone the message in the family chat i'm 18 today
00:03:18was still
00:03:19sitting there no one had replied mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the
00:03:26middle
00:03:26of the table all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs
00:03:36chloe liked
00:03:37mac and cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was for me i liked seafood
00:03:44grilled
00:03:45salmon was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this family remembered dad today
00:03:55dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to ethan how's your
00:04:02wrist
00:04:02from basketball this afternoon does the sprain still hurt it's okay shoot it aches a little when i shoot
00:04:08i'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow my words died in midair
00:04:14i finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes i turned the faucet on high
00:04:21from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet basics her toes landing against
00:04:26the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox in his room shouting every few
00:04:32minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house had something of their own
00:04:37everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen washing platelets and cups
00:04:46for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one would hear after the
00:04:54dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it was a message in
00:04:59the class group chat
00:04:59it was the only happy birthday i had received all day from a classmate i had known for less than
00:05:04a
00:05:04year i replied thank you then i opened my photo album and kept scrolling back after i turned six mom's
00:05:11camera had almost completely turned toward them most of the photos were of them i scrolled for a long
00:05:16time before i finally found one it was from when i was nine and had entered the school speech contest
00:05:21mom
00:05:22had taken it from the audience the photo was blurry only half my body was in it because the other
00:05:28half
00:05:28of the frame was chloe in the front row turning back toward the camera with a bright smile i stood
00:05:34off stage in front of the microphone my face barely visible the phone screen dimmed and my face appeared
00:05:42in the black reflection 18 year old mallory hayes had spent the whole morning putting on makeup waited all
00:05:48day and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday mom's voice came from outside the door
00:05:55mallory wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning she has training at 8 30. okay
00:06:06hey sis it's seven chloe had woken up on her own she stood in my doorway in a pink leotard
00:06:12her hair
00:06:13half tied i checked my phone 6 53 my alarm hadn't even gone off you got up by yourself yeah
00:06:21i set an
00:06:22alarm mom told you to wake me but i was afraid you didn't sleep well last night she said it
00:06:28so casually
00:06:29but the words still stung she knew i hadn't slept well last night i'll help you tie your hair no
00:06:36it's fine
00:06:37i can do it she turned and left chloe had always been like that with me she wasn't cruel she
00:06:48just
00:06:48wasn't close she called me sis but the word carried no weight the twins had their own rhythm and i
00:06:57had
00:06:57never been able to enter it at breakfast mom was warming milk for chloe ethan wasn't up yet
00:07:07i didn't even check whether there was a bowl i'd used on the table she just nodded chloe did you
00:07:14pack your water bottle it's hot today drink more water i did mally drive your sister there she still
00:07:22doesn't know the stops near the training center chloe had been going to that training center for two years
00:07:28mom still said she didn't know the way okay as we were leaving ethan finally got up and called from
00:07:35his doorway mom what's for breakfast i left you a bagel and yogurt on the table a bagel and yogurt
00:07:44ethan's regular breakfast no one had ever asked what i wanted in the morning on the way to the training
00:07:51center chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone she wasn't trying to be cold
00:07:58it just never occurred to her to talk to me
00:08:04sis when she suddenly spoke my palm tightened on the wheel what that message you sent in the group
00:08:12chat yesterday ethan told you to delete it yeah did you no she nodded then lowered her head to look
00:08:24at
00:08:24her phone again i waited for a long time waiting for her to say happy birthday she didn't when we
00:08:31reached the training center she unbuckled her seat belt sis i'm here yeah train hard can you pick me up
00:08:39this afternoon i finish at five i have a study group this afternoon that was a lie i had nothing
00:08:45this afternoon i just didn't want to go then i'll ask mom to pick me up okay at 4 50
00:08:51that afternoon
00:08:52mom sent a message in the family group chat chloe finishes training at five who can pick her up i'm
00:08:59in
00:08:59meeting i'm at a friend's house mallory aren't you free this afternoon i looked at that message she
00:09:05started with who can pick her up but in the end it still landed on me it's on your way
00:09:09anyway right
00:09:09just go pick her up it wasn't on my way at all but in this family my road was always
00:09:14on the way
00:09:14my time was always free i typed okay and sent it then i turned my phone face down on the
00:09:20desk
00:09:23suddenly i wondered what would happen if one day i didn't reply with okay
00:09:30if i turned off my phone canceled my number and disappeared too would they first panic because no
00:09:36one could pick up chloe or would they think of me first i knew the answer when i picked chloe
00:09:41up
00:09:42her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp sis i'm thirsty where's your water bottle
00:09:48finished it i handed her the spare bottle of water in the car thanks sis on the way home she
00:09:55soon fell
00:09:55asleep against the window i adjusted the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold she
00:10:00was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around and most of the roads i had driven
00:10:04through this city had been for someone else but not for much longer not long after the school
00:10:09college counselor called me into her office mallory hayes i saw your awards record honorable ments
00:10:15in the national math olympias that's impressive awards like that carry real weight which schools
00:10:20are you considering for early applications i'm still looking what do your parents think i haven't
00:10:25told them yet something this important and you're not discussing it with your family first
00:10:30i want to look into it myself first i knew that even if i told them no one would take
00:10:35it seriously
00:10:35on last month's mock examine i ranked third in the entire grade i took a photo of my report card
00:10:39and
00:10:39sent it to the family group chat my third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short
00:10:43while all it got from mom was one sentence not bad the next message was a video mom sent of
00:10:47chloe
00:10:48dancing that afternoon when i got home i found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on
00:10:53the
00:10:53coffee table it said congratulations mr and mrs hayes your daughter mallory hayes has received an
00:10:59honorable mention in the national high school mathematics olympiad two months had passed the envelope hadn't even
00:11:04been opened it was tucked between bills and pizza curans completely forgotten at dinner mom answered
00:11:10a facetime call from my aunt my aunt asked about ethan's swim meet mom said he had taken second place
00:11:15in the district pride filling her voice my aunt asked about chloe's dance competition mom said she
00:11:20had won gold at regionals and the judges had praised how steady she was off dyes how's mallory she's
00:11:26applying to college soon too right she's doing fine third in my grade a national math olympic award
00:11:33in mom's mouth all of it became doing fine i sat at the dining table still holding the award letter
00:11:38that had been forgotten for two months no one asked how i had been lately no one turned to me
00:11:43and said
00:11:43mallory what about you i went back to my room opened my laptop and started looking up colleges that would
00:11:48actually care about competition backgrounds in the end i stopped at carnegie melon hundreds of miles away
00:11:53from home no one would remember me only when they needed someone to pick up my sister i opened the
00:11:58application page my fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds before i finally closed it i decided
00:12:05to try one more time if they still couldn't see me this time i would leave completely
00:12:14mallory ashley is coming to stay with us for a while give her your room and share with chloe for
00:12:20now
00:12:20saturday morning mom said it casually while changing shoes by the door
00:12:24i was sitting at the dining table eating cereal my spoon stopped in midair
00:12:32why my room your room gets the best natural light ashley hasn't been feeling well lately and the
00:12:37doctor said more sunlight would be good for her ethan's room has a window too your brother is a boy
00:12:42ashley is a girl how could they share a room then let her stay with chloe chloe needs space to
00:12:47stretch
00:12:47at night your room only has a bed and a desk it's easy to clear out how long is she
00:12:51staying about half a
00:12:52month her summer program is over here i didn't argue anymore experience had taught me a long time
00:12:57ago that arguing was useless that afternoon ashley came in dragging two large suitcases smiling sweetly
00:13:06auntie uncle you're here you're here come in mom was so warm as if an important guest had arrived
00:13:14ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the doorway
00:13:19auntie can this bookshelf be moved out i want to put a vanity mirror here of course
00:13:25mallory move the bookshelf out on my bookshelf were three years of notebooks reference books and a few
00:13:31certificates it took me an hour to move everything into a corner of chloe's room that night i laid a
00:13:38mattress on the floor of chloe's room sis why don't you sleep on the bed i'll sleep on the floor
00:13:45no the floor is fine ashley is actually okay don't be upset ashley was never what upset me
00:13:54what hurt was that in this house i was always the one expected to give way on the third day
00:14:02i went back
00:14:02to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find ashley flipping through my math
00:14:07competition notes these are yours your handwriting is so mean yeah please put them back i was just looking
00:14:13you're way too protective of this stuff she casually put the notebook back on the desk i glanced over
00:14:19and suddenly realized one was missing there was a blue one on the desk where is it i didn't touch
00:14:23it
00:14:23i didn't see it i searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in the trash can half the cover
00:14:29had been
00:14:29torn off and several pages inside were soaked with coffee the writing blurred into smears it was the
00:14:34problem-solving notebook i had been organizing since freshman year three years i only had that one copy
00:14:39ashley ashley this oh maybe i knocked it over when i was carrying coffee just write another one i stood
00:14:44in the doorway holding the drenched notebook my hands shaking
00:14:51i took the notebook back to chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair brewer
00:14:57where the writing was blurred i slowly filled it back in with a pencil
00:15:04i worked until one in the morning the next morning ashley sat in my old seat chatting happily with mom
00:15:10no one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark or what had happened last night and i
00:15:15no longer
00:15:15needed to wait for that one last time from that day on i began preparing to leave until the day
00:15:21i
00:15:21received my acceptance letter i knew the time had come to leave this house i packed my suitcase and bought
00:15:26a gray house ticket for the early dawn departure the next day the destination was pittsburgh then i
00:15:31walked to the door and placed my house key on the small entryway table i left the group chat and
00:15:36deactivated my old phone number the screen went dark the whole world suddenly became much quieter
00:15:44i pulled my suitcase open the door and closed it softly behind me
00:15:57mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table
00:16:03all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs chloe liked mac
00:16:12and
00:16:12cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was for me i liked seafood grilled salmon
00:16:20was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this family remembered dad today
00:16:29dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to ethan how's your
00:16:36wrist
00:16:36from basketball this afternoon does the sprain still hurt it's okay shoot it aches a little when
00:16:42i shoot i'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow my words died in midair i finished dinner quietly and
00:16:50went to wash the dishes i turned the faucet on high from the living room came the sound of chloe
00:16:57practicing ballet basics her toes landing against the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan
00:17:04was playing xbox in his room shouting every few minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone
00:17:09in this house had something of their own everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in
00:17:18the kitchen washing platelets and cups for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i
00:17:26cried no one would hear after the dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone
00:17:31lit up it
00:17:32was a message in the class group chat this family celebrates everyone's birthday everyone's but
00:17:38mine because my parents only love my twin siblings ethan and chloe they don't love me when ethan wants
00:17:45a birthday party my parents book a private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance when it's
00:17:51chloe's turn and she wants to go to six flags the whole family goes mom even posts nine photos on
00:17:57instagram but on my birthday this house always treats it like any other day i thought turning 18 would be
00:18:03different that morning i got up early on purpose put on light makeup and sat on the living room couch
00:18:10to
00:18:10wait mom walked past me on her way out carrying chloe's dance bag heat up your own lunch i'm taking
00:18:17chloe to
00:18:18her intensive class dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard ethan called him to go play basketball
00:18:25at the park and the two of them left soon after at noon i was the only one left in
00:18:30the house i sent a
00:18:32message in the family group chat i'm 18 today no one replied at seven that night everybody came home
00:18:39no one sang no one felt like anything was missing i was 18 now at last i could decide for
00:18:47myself where
00:18:48i wanted to go mallory delete that message from the group chat i almost missed grandpa's voice message
00:18:55ethan didn't even look up he tapped the edge of his plate lightly with his dinner knife
00:19:02signaling mom to give him more ribs
00:19:06i looked down at my phone the message in the family chat i'm 18 today was still sitting there
00:19:12no one had replied mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of
00:19:18the table
00:19:21all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs chloe liked mac
00:19:30and cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was for me i liked seafood grilled
00:19:37salmon
00:19:38was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this family remembered dad today dad set
00:19:48down
00:19:48his iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to ethan how's your wrist from basketball
00:19:55this afternoon does the sprain still hurt it's okay shoot it aches a little when i shoot i'll take you
00:20:01to a sports therapist tomorrow my words died in midair i finished dinner quietly and went to wash
00:20:08the dishes i turned the faucet on high from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet
00:20:16basics her toes landing against the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox
00:20:22in his room shouting every few minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house
00:20:28had something of their own everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen
00:20:36washing platelets and cups for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one
00:20:44would hear after the dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it
00:20:50was a message in
00:20:51class group chat it was the only happy birthday i had received all day from a classmate i had known
00:20:56for less than a year i replied thank you then i opened my photo album and kept scrolling back after
00:21:01i turned six mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them most of the photos were of them
00:21:07i scrolled for a long time before i finally found one it was from when i was nine and had
00:21:12entered the
00:21:12school speech contest mom had taken it from the audience the photo was blurry only half my body was in
00:21:19it
00:21:19because the other half of the frame was chloe in the front row turning back toward the camera with a
00:21:24bright smile i stood off stage in front of the microphone my face barely visible the phone screen
00:21:32dimmed and my face appeared in the black reflection 18 year old mallory hayes had spent the whole morning
00:21:38putting on makeup waited all day and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday mom's voice came from outside the
00:21:45door mallory wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning she has training at 8 30. okay
00:21:58hey sis it's seven chloe had woken up on her own she stood in my doorway in a pink leotard
00:22:04her hair half
00:22:05tied i checked my phone 6 53 my alarm hadn't even gone off you got up by yourself yeah i
00:22:14set an alarm mom
00:22:16told you to wake me but i was afraid you didn't sleep well last night she said it so casually
00:22:21but the
00:22:22words still stung she knew i hadn't slept well last night i'll help you tie your hair no it's fine
00:22:29i can do it
00:22:33she turned and left chloe had always been like that with me she wasn't cruel she just wasn't close
00:22:42she called me sis but the word carried no weight the twins had their own rhythm and i had never
00:22:49been
00:22:50able to enter it at breakfast mom was warming milk for chloe ethan wasn't up yet mally have you eaten
00:22:57i
00:22:59have i hadn't she didn't even check whether there was a bowl i'd used on the table she just nodded
00:23:05chloe
00:23:06did you pack your water bottle it's hot today drink more water i did mally drive your sister there she
00:23:14still doesn't know the stops near the training center chloe had been going to that training center for two
00:23:19years mom still said she didn't know the way okay as we were leaving ethan finally got up and called
00:23:27from
00:23:27his doorway mom what's for breakfast i left you a bagel and yogurt on the table a bagel and yogurt
00:23:36ethan's regular breakfast no one had ever asked what i wanted in the morning on the way to the
00:23:42training center chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone she wasn't trying to be
00:23:49cold it just never occurred to her to talk to me sis when she suddenly spoke my palm tightened on
00:23:59the
00:23:59wheel what that message you sent in the group chat yesterday ethan told you to delete it yeah did you
00:24:12you know she nodded then lowered her head to look at her phone again i waited for a long time
00:24:18waiting
00:24:19for her to say happy birthday she didn't when we reached the training center she unbuckled her seat
00:24:25belt sis i'm here yeah train hard can you pick me up this afternoon i finish at five i have
00:24:33a study
00:24:33group this afternoon that was a lie i had nothing this afternoon i just didn't want to go then i'll
00:24:39ask mom to pick me up okay at 4 50 that afternoon mom sent a message in the family group
00:24:46chat chloe
00:24:48finishes training at five who can pick her up i'm in a meeting i'm at a friend's house mallory aren't
00:24:53you free this afternoon i looked at that message she started with who can pick her up but in the
00:24:59end it
00:24:59still landed on me it's on your way anyway right just go pick her up it wasn't on my way
00:25:04at all but
00:25:04in this family my road was always on the way my time was always free i typed okay and sent
00:25:10it then
00:25:11i turned my phone face down on the desk suddenly i wondered what would happen if one day i didn't
00:25:20reply
00:25:20with okay if i turned off my phone cancelled my number and disappeared too would they first panic
00:25:27because no one could pick up chloe or would they think of me first i knew the answer when i
00:25:33picked
00:25:33chloe up her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp sis i'm thirsty where's your water
00:25:40bottle finished it i handed her the spare bottle of water in the car thanks sis on the way home
00:25:47she
00:25:47soon fell asleep against the window i adjusted the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold she
00:25:52was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around and most of the roads i had driven
00:25:56through this city had been for someone else but not for much longer not long after the school college
00:26:02counselor called me into her office mallory hayes i saw your awards record honorable mens and the
00:26:08national math olympias that's impressive awards like that carry real weight which schools are you
00:26:13considering for early applications i'm still looking what do your parents think i haven't told them yet
00:26:18something this important and you're not discussing it with your family first
00:26:22i want to look into it myself first i knew that even if i told them no one would take
00:26:27it seriously
00:26:27on last month's mock examine i ranked third in the entire grade i took a photo of my report card
00:26:31and
00:26:31sent it to the family group chat my third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short
00:26:35while all it got from mom was one sentence not bad the next message was a video mom sent of
00:26:39chloe
00:26:40dancing that afternoon when i got home i found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on
00:26:45the
00:26:45coffee table it said congratulations mr and mrs hayes your daughter mallory hayes has received an
00:26:51honorable mention in the national high school mathematics olympiad two months had passed the
00:26:55envelope hadn't even been opened it was tucked between bills and pizza curans completely forgotten
00:27:00at dinner mom answered a facetime call from my aunt my aunt asked about ethan's swim meet mom said he
00:27:06had taken second place in the district pride filling her voice my aunt asked about chloe's dance
00:27:10competition mom said she had won gold at regionals and the judges had praised how steady she was off
00:27:15dyes how's mallory she's applying to college soon too right she's doing fine third in my grade a national
00:27:24math olympic award in mom's mouth all of it became doing fine i sat at the dining table still holding
00:27:30the
00:27:30award letter that had been forgotten for two months no one asked how i had been lately no one turned
00:27:35to me
00:27:35and said mallory what about you i went back to my room opened my laptop and started looking up
00:27:39colleges that would actually care about competition backgrounds in the end i stopped at carnegie melon
00:27:44hundreds of miles away from home no one would remember me only when they needed someone to pick
00:27:48up my sister i opened the application page my fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds
00:27:53before i finally closed it i decided to try one more time if they still couldn't see me this time
00:28:00i would leave completely
00:28:06mallory ashley is coming to stay with us for a while
00:28:10give her your room and share with chloe for now saturday morning mom said it casually while changing
00:28:15shoes by the door i was sitting at the dining table eating cereal my spoon stopped in midair
00:28:24why my room your room gets the best natural light ashley hasn't been feeling well lately
00:28:29and the doctor said more sunlight would be good for her ethan's room has a window too your brother
00:28:34is a boy ashley is a girl how could they share a room then let her stay with chloe chloe
00:28:38needs
00:28:38space to stretch at night your room only has a bed and a desk it's easy to clear out how
00:28:42long is she
00:28:43staying about half a month her summer program is over here okay i didn't argue anymore experience had
00:28:48taught me a long time ago that arguing was useless that afternoon ashley came in dragging two large
00:28:54suitcases smiling sweetly auntie uncle you're here you're here come in mom was so warm as if an
00:29:04important guest had arrived ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the doorway
00:29:10auntie can this bookshelf be moved out i want to put a vanity mirror here
00:29:15of course mallory move the bookshelf out on my bookshelf were three years of notebooks reference
00:29:22books and a few certificates it took me an hour to move everything into a corner of chloe's room
00:29:28that night i laid a mattress on the floor of chloe's room sis why don't you sleep on the bed
00:29:35i'll sleep on
00:29:36the floor no the floor is fine ashley is actually okay don't be upset ashley was never what upset me
00:29:47what hurt was that in this house i was always the one expected to give way
00:29:53on the third day i went back to my room to get review materials and opened the door to find
00:29:57ashley
00:29:58flipping through my math competition notes these are yours your handwriting is so neat yeah please put them
00:30:04back i was just looking you're way too protective of this stuff she casually put the notebook back on
00:30:09the desk i glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing there was a blue one on the desk where
00:30:14is it i didn't touch it i didn't see it i searched for 10 minutes and finally found it in
00:30:19the trash can
00:30:20half the cover had been torn off and several pages inside were soaked with coffee the writing blurred
00:30:25into smears it was the problem-solving notebook i had been organizing since freshman year three years
00:30:30i only had that one copy ashley this oh maybe i knocked it over when i was carrying coffee just
00:30:35write another one i stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook my hands shaking
00:30:43i took the notebook back to chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair broyer
00:30:49where the writing was blurred i slowly filled it back in with a pencil
00:30:56i worked until one in the morning the next morning ashley sat in my old seat chatting happily with mom
00:31:02no one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark or what had happened last night and i
00:31:07no
00:31:07longer needed to wait for that one last time from that day on i began preparing to leave until the
00:31:13day
00:31:13i received my acceptance letter i knew the time had come to leave this house i packed my suitcase and
00:31:18bought a gray house ticket for the early dawn departure the next day the destination was pittsburgh
00:31:23then i walked to the door and placed my house key on the small entryway table i left the group
00:31:27chat and
00:31:28deactivated my old phone number the screen went dark the whole world suddenly became much quieter
00:31:36i pulled my suitcase opened the door and closed it softly behind me
00:31:49mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table
00:31:55all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs chloe
00:32:03liked mac and cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was for me i liked
00:32:09seafood
00:32:11grilled salmon was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this family remembered
00:32:19dad today dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to ethan
00:32:27how's your wrist from basketball this afternoon does the sprain still hurt
00:32:32it's okay shoot it aches a little when i shoot i'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow
00:32:36my words died in midair i finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes i turned the faucet on
00:32:45high
00:32:47from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet basics her toes landing against
00:32:52the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox in his room shouting every few
00:32:58minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house had something of their own
00:33:03everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen washing platelets and cups for five
00:33:13people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one would hear after the dishes i
00:33:21went
00:33:21back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it was a message in the class group
00:33:25chat this family
00:33:27celebrates everyone's birthday everyone's but mine because my parents only love my twin siblings
00:33:33ethan and chloe they don't love me when ethan wants a birthday party my parents book a private
00:33:39room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance when it's chloe's turn and she wants to go to six
00:33:45flags the whole family goes mom even posts nine photos on instagram but on my birthday this house
00:33:52always treats it like any other day i thought turning 18 would be different that morning i got
00:33:57up early on purpose put on light makeup and sat on the living room couch to wait mom walked past
00:34:04me on her way out carrying chloe's dance bag heat up your own lunch i'm taking chloe to her intensive
00:34:10class
00:34:11dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard ethan called him to go play basketball at the park
00:34:18and the two of them left soon after at noon i was the only one left in the house
00:34:23i sent a message in the family group chat i'm 18 today no one replied at seven that night everybody
00:34:31came home no one sang no one felt like anything was missing i was 18 now at last i could
00:34:38decide for
00:34:39myself where i wanted to go mallory delete that message from the group chat i almost missed grandpa's
00:34:46voice message ethan didn't even look up he tapped the edge of his plate lightly with his dinner knife
00:34:54signaling mom to give him more ribs i looked down at my phone the message in the family chat
00:35:01i'm 18 today i'm still sitting there no one had replied mom came over with a plate of garlic bread
00:35:09and set it in the middle of the table all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food
00:35:18on the table
00:35:19ethan liked ribs chloe liked mac and cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was
00:35:26for
00:35:26me i liked seafood grilled salmon was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this
00:35:34family
00:35:34remembered dad today dad set down his iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to
00:35:45ethan
00:35:45how's your wrist from basketball this afternoon does the sprain still hurt
00:35:49it's okay shoot it aches a little when i shoot i'll take you to a sports therapist tomorrow my words
00:35:56died in midair i finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes i turned the faucet on high
00:36:05from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet basics her toes landing
00:36:09against the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox in his room
00:36:15shouting every few minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house had something
00:36:20of their own everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen washing platelets
00:36:30and cups for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one would hear
00:36:37after
00:36:38the dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it was a message
00:36:42in the class group chat
00:36:43it was the only happy birthday i had received all day from a classmate i had known for less than
00:36:48a
00:36:48year i replied thank you then i opened my photo album and kept scrolling back after i turned six
00:36:54mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them most of the photos were of them i scrolled
00:37:00for a long time before i finally found one it was from when i was nine and had entered the
00:37:04school
00:37:04speech contest mom had taken it from the audience the photo was blurry only half my body was in it
00:37:11because the other half of the frame was chloe in the front row turning back toward the camera with a
00:37:16bright smile i stood off stage in front of the microphone my face barely visible the phone screen
00:37:24dimmed and my face appeared in the black reflection 18 year old mallory hayes had spent the whole morning
00:37:30putting on makeup waited all day and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday mom's voice came from
00:37:36outside the door mallory wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning she has training at 8 30. okay
00:37:50hey sis it's seven chloe had woken up on her own she stood in my doorway in a pink leotard
00:37:56her hair half
00:37:57tied i checked my phone 6 53 my alarm hadn't even gone off you got up by yourself yeah i
00:38:06set an alarm mom
00:38:08told you to wake me but i was afraid you didn't sleep well last night she said it so casually
00:38:13but
00:38:13the words still stung she knew i hadn't slept well last night i'll help you tie your hair no it's
00:38:21fine i can
00:38:22do it she turned and left chloe had always been like that with me she wasn't cruel she just wasn't
00:38:32close she called me sis but the word carried no weight the twins had their own rhythm and i had
00:38:41never been able to enter it at breakfast mom was warming milk for chloe ethan wasn't up yet
00:38:48mally have you eaten i have i hadn't she didn't even check whether there was a bowl i'd used on
00:38:55the
00:38:55table she just nodded chloe did you pack your water bottle it's hot today drink more water i did
00:39:04mally drive your sister there she still doesn't know the stops near the training center chloe had been
00:39:09going to that training center for two years mom still said she didn't know the way okay
00:39:16as we were leaving ethan finally got up and called from his doorway mom what's for breakfast
00:39:24i left you a bagel and yogurt on the table a bagel and yogurt ethan's regular breakfast
00:39:31no one had ever asked what i wanted in the morning on the way to the training center chloe sat
00:39:37in the
00:39:37passenger seat scrolling through her phone she wasn't trying to be cold it just never occurred to her to
00:39:44talk to me
00:39:48sis when she suddenly spoke my palm tightened on the wheel what that message you sent in the group
00:39:56chat yesterday ethan told you to delete it yeah did you
00:40:05no she nodded then lowered her head to look at her phone again i waited for a long time waiting
00:40:11for
00:40:11her to say happy birthday she didn't when we reached the training center she unbuckled her seat belt
00:40:18sis i'm here yeah train hard can you pick me up this afternoon i finish at five i have a
00:40:25study group this afternoon
00:40:27that was a lie i had nothing this afternoon i just didn't want to go then i'll ask mom to
00:40:32pick me up
00:40:34okay at 4 50 that afternoon mom sent a message in the family group chat chloe finishes training at
00:40:41five who can pick her up i'm in a meeting i'm at a friend's house mallory aren't you free this
00:40:46afternoon i looked at that message she started with who can pick her up but in the end it still
00:40:51landed on
00:40:52me it's on your way anyway right just go pick her up it wasn't on my way at all but
00:40:56in this family my
00:40:57road was always on the way my time was always free i typed okay and sent it then i turned
00:41:03my phone
00:41:03face down on the desk suddenly i wondered what would happen if one day i didn't reply with okay
00:41:14if i turned off my phone cancelled my number and disappeared too would they first panic because no
00:41:20one could pick up chloe or would they think of me first i knew the answer when i picked chloe
00:41:25up her
00:41:26face was flushed from training and her hair was damp sis i'm thirsty where's your water bottle
00:41:32finished it i handed her the spare bottle of water in the car thanks sis on the way home she
00:41:39soon fell
00:41:39asleep against the window i adjusted the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold she
00:41:44was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around and most of the roads i had driven
00:41:48through this city had been for someone else but not for much longer not long after the school
00:41:53college counselor called me into her office mallory hayes i saw your awards record honorable ments in
00:41:59the national math olympias that's impressive awards like that carry real weight which schools are you
00:42:05considering for early applications i'm still looking what do your parents think i haven't told them yet
00:42:10something this important and you're not discussing it with your family first
00:42:14i want to look into it myself first i knew that even if i told them no one would take
00:42:18it seriously
00:42:19on last month's mock examine i ranked third in the entire grade i took a photo of my report card
00:42:23and
00:42:23sent it to the family group chat my third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short
00:42:27while all it got from mom was one sentence not bad the next message was a video mom sent of
00:42:31chloe
00:42:32dancing that afternoon when i got home i found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on
00:42:37the
00:42:37coffee table it said congratulations mr and mrs hayes your daughter mallory hayes has received an
00:42:43honorable mention in the national high school mathematics olympiad two months had passed the envelope hadn't even
00:42:48opened it was tucked between bills and pizza curans completely forgotten at dinner mom answered a
00:42:54facetime call from my aunt my aunt asked about ethan's swim meet mom said he had taken second place
00:42:59in the district pride filling her voice my aunt asked about chloe's dance competition mom said she
00:43:04had won gold at regionals and the judges had praised how steady she was off dyes how's mallory she's
00:43:10applying to college soon too right she's doing fine third in my grade a national math olympic award
00:43:17in mom's mouth all of it became doing fine i sat at the dining table still holding the award letter
00:43:22that had been forgotten for two months no one asked how i had been lately no one turned to me
00:43:27and said
00:43:27mallory what about you i went back to my room opened my laptop and started looking up colleges that would
00:43:32actually care about competition backgrounds in the end i stopped at carnegie melon hundreds of miles away
00:43:37from home no one would remember me only when they needed someone to pick up my sister i opened the
00:43:42application page my fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds before i finally closed it i decided
00:43:49to try one more time if they still couldn't see me this time i would leave completely
00:43:58mallory ashley is coming to stay with us for a while
00:44:02give her your room and share with chloe for now saturday morning mom said it casually while changing
00:44:07shoes by the door i was sitting at the dining table eating cereal my spoon stopped in midair
00:44:16why my room your room gets the best natural light ashley hasn't been feeling well lately and the doctor
00:44:22said more sunlight would be good for her ethan's room has a window too your brother is a boy ashley
00:44:27is a girl how could they share a room then let her stay with chloe chloe needs space to stretch
00:44:31at night
00:44:31your room only has a bed and a desk it's easy to order out how long is she staying about
00:44:36half a
00:44:36month her summer program is over here i didn't argue anymore experience had taught me a long time
00:44:41ago that arguing was useless that afternoon ashley came in dragging two large suitcases smiling sweetly
00:44:50auntie uncle you're here you're here come in mom was so warm as if an important guest had arrived
00:44:58ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the doorway auntie can this bookshelf
00:45:04be moved out i want to put a vanity mirror here of course mallory move the bookshelf out on my
00:45:12bookshelf
00:45:12were three years of notebooks reference books and a few certificates it took me an hour to move
00:45:18everything into a corner of chloe's room that night i laid a mattress on the floor of chloe's room
00:45:25so why don't you sleep on the bed i'll sleep on the floor no the floor is fine ashley is
00:45:32actually
00:45:33okay don't be upset ashley was never what upset me what hurt was that in this house i was always
00:45:42the
00:45:42one expected to give way on the third day i went back to my room to get review materials and
00:45:48opened the
00:45:49door to find ashley flipping through my math competition notes these are yours your handwriting
00:45:54is so big yeah please put them back i was just looking you're way too protective of this stuff
00:45:59she casually put the notebook back on the desk i glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing
00:46:04there was a blue one on the desk where is it i didn't touch it i didn't see it i
00:46:09searched for 10
00:46:10minutes and finally found it in the trash can half the cover had been torn off and several pages inside
00:46:15were soaked with coffee the writing blurred into smears it was the problem-solving notebook i had
00:46:19been organizing since freshman year three years i only had that one copy ashley this oh maybe i knocked
00:46:26it over when i was carrying coffee just write another one i stood in the doorway holding the drenched
00:46:30notebook my hands shaking i took the notebook back to chloe's room and dried it page by page with a
00:46:39hair
00:46:39broyer where the writing was blurred i slowly filled it back in with a pencil
00:46:48i worked until one in the morning the next morning ashley sat in my old seat chatting happily with mom
00:46:53no one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark or what had happened last night and i
00:46:59no
00:46:59longer needed to wait for that one last time from that day on i began preparing to leave until the
00:47:05day
00:47:05i received my acceptance letter i knew the time had come to leave this house i packed my suitcase and
00:47:10bought a gray house ticket for the early dawn departure the next day the destination was pittsburgh
00:47:15then i walked to the door and placed my house key on the small entryway table i left the group
00:47:19chat
00:47:20and deactivated my old phone number the screen went dark the whole world suddenly became much quieter
00:47:28i pulled my suitcase opened the door and closed it softly behind me
00:47:41mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table
00:47:47all right no phones at dinner
00:47:51i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs chloe liked mac and cheese mom had made the
00:47:57salad
00:47:58for herself not a single dish was for me i liked seafood grilled salmon was my favorite i had said
00:48:06it
00:48:06so many times no one in this family remembered dad today dad set down his iced tea and glanced at
00:48:16me
00:48:17the next second he turned back to ethan how's your wrist from basketball this afternoon does the
00:48:22sprain still hurt it's okay shoot it aches a little when i shoot i'll take you to a sports therapist
00:48:28tomorrow my words died in midair i finished dinner quietly and went to wash the dishes i turned the
00:48:36faucet on high from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet basics her toes landing
00:48:44against the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox in his room
00:48:49shouting every few minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house had something
00:48:54of their own everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen washing platelets and
00:49:04cups for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one would hear after
00:49:12the
00:49:12dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it was a message in
00:49:17the class group
00:49:17chat this family celebrates everyone's birthday everyone's but mine because my parents only love
00:49:24my twin siblings ethan and chloe they don't love me when ethan wants a birthday party my parents book a
00:49:31private room at his favorite steakhouse a month in advance when it's chloe's turn and she wants to go
00:49:36to six flags the whole family goes mom even posts nine photos on instagram but on my birthday this house
00:49:44always treats it like any other day i thought turning 18 would be different that morning i got up early
00:49:50on
00:49:50purpose put on light makeup and sat on the living room couch to wait mom walked past me on her
00:49:56way out
00:49:57carrying chloe's dance bag heat up your own lunch i'm taking chloe to her intensive class
00:50:04dad was watering tomatoes in the backyard ethan called him to go play basketball at the park and the
00:50:10two of them left soon after at noon i was the only one left in the house i sent a
00:50:16message in the family
00:50:17group chat i'm 18 today no one replied at seven that night everybody came home no one sang no one
00:50:25felt like
00:50:26anything was missing i was 18 now at last i could decide for myself where i wanted to go mallory
00:50:34delete that message from the group chat i almost missed grandpa's voice message ethan didn't even look
00:50:41up he tapped the edge of his plate lightly with his dinner knife signaling mom to give him more ribs
00:50:50i looked down at my phone the message in the family chat i'm 18 today i'm still sitting there no
00:50:56one
00:50:57had replied mom came over with a plate of garlic bread and set it in the middle of the table
00:51:05all right no phones at dinner i looked at the food on the table ethan liked ribs chloe liked mac
00:51:14and
00:51:14cheese mom had made the salad for herself not a single dish was for me i liked seafood grilled salmon
00:51:22was my favorite i had said it so many times no one in this family remembered dad today dad set
00:51:32down his
00:51:32iced tea and glanced at me the next second he turned back to ethan how's your wrist from basketball this
00:51:39afternoon does the sprain still hurt it's okay shoot it aches a little when i shoot i'll take
00:51:45you to a sports therapist tomorrow my words died in midair i finished dinner quietly and went to wash
00:51:52the dishes i turned the faucet on high from the living room came the sound of chloe practicing ballet
00:52:00basics her toes landing against the floor one by one mom counted beats beside her ethan was playing xbox in
00:52:07his room shouting every few minutes dad was on the couch with his ipad everyone in this house had
00:52:12something of their own everyone had someone answering them except me i stood in the kitchen
00:52:21washing platelets and cups for five people the water was loud loud enough that even if i cried no one
00:52:28would hear after the dishes i went back to my room and shut the door my phone lit up it
00:52:34was a message
00:52:34in the class group chat it was the only happy birthday i had received all day from a classmate
00:52:39i had known for less than a year i replied thank you then i opened my photo album and kept
00:52:44scrolling
00:52:44back after i turned six mom's camera had almost completely turned toward them most of the photos
00:52:50were of them i scrolled for a long time before i finally found one it was from when i was
00:52:55nine and
00:52:55had entered the school speech contest mom had taken it from the audience the photo was blurry only half my
00:53:02body was in it because the other half of the frame was chloe in the front row turning back toward
00:53:08the
00:53:08camera with a bright smile i stood off stage in front of the microphone my face barely visible
00:53:15the phone screen dimmed and my face appeared in the black reflection 18 year old mallory hayes had spent
00:53:22the whole morning putting on makeup waited all day and still hadn't gotten a single happy birthday mom's
00:53:28voice came from outside the door mallory wake your sister at seven tomorrow morning she has training
00:53:36at 8 30. okay hey sis it's seven chloe had woken up on her own she stood in my doorway
00:53:47in a pink leotard
00:53:48her hair half tied i checked my phone 6 53 my alarm hadn't even gone off you got up by
00:53:55yourself yeah
00:53:57i set an alarm mom told you to wake me but i was afraid you didn't sleep well last night
00:54:04she said it so casually but the words still stung she knew i hadn't slept well last night
00:54:10i'll help you tie your hair no it's fine i can do it
00:54:17she turned and left chloe had always been like that with me she wasn't cruel she just wasn't close
00:54:26she called me sis but the word carried no weight the twins had their own rhythm and i had never
00:54:33been
00:54:33able to enter it at breakfast mom was warming milk for chloe ethan wasn't up yet
00:54:45she didn't even check whether there was a bowl i'd used on the table she just nodded chloe did you
00:54:50pack your water bottle it's hot today drink more water i did mali drive your sister there she still
00:54:58doesn't know the stops near the training center chloe had been going to that training center for two years
00:55:04mom still said she didn't know the way okay as we were leaving ethan finally got up and called from
00:55:11his doorway mom what's for breakfast i left you a bagel and yogurt on the table a bagel and yogurt
00:55:20ethan's regular breakfast no one had ever asked what i wanted in the morning on the way to the training
00:55:27center chloe sat in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone she wasn't trying to be cold
00:55:34it just never occurred to her to talk to me sis when she suddenly spoke my palm tightened on the
00:55:43wheel
00:55:46what that message you sent in the group chat yesterday ethan told you to delete it yeah did you
00:55:57no she nodded then lowered her head to look at her phone again i waited for a long time waiting
00:56:03for her to
00:56:03say happy birthday she didn't when we reached the training center she unbuckled her seat belt sis i'm
00:56:11here yeah train hard can you pick me up this afternoon i finish at five i have a study group
00:56:17this afternoon that was a lie i had nothing this afternoon i just didn't want to go then i'll ask
00:56:24mom to pick me up okay at 4 50 that afternoon mom sent a message in the family group chat
00:56:31chloe finishes
00:56:32training at five who can pick her up i'm in a meeting i'm at a friend's house mallory aren't
00:56:37you free this afternoon i looked at that message she started with who can pick her up but in the
00:56:43end it still landed on me it's on your way anyway right just go pick her up it wasn't on
00:56:47my way at
00:56:48all but in this family my road was always on the way my time was always free i typed okay
00:56:53and sent it
00:56:54then i turned my phone face down on the desk suddenly i wondered what would happen if one day i
00:57:04didn't
00:57:04reply with okay if i turned off my phone cancelled my number and disappeared too would they first panic
00:57:11because no one could pick up chloe or would they think of me first i knew the answer when i
00:57:17picked
00:57:17chloe up her face was flushed from training and her hair was damp sis i'm thirsty where's your water
00:57:24bottle finished it i handed her the spare bottle of water in the car thanks sis on the way home
00:57:31she
00:57:31soon fell asleep against the window i adjusted the air conditionings so the car wouldn't be so cold she
00:57:36was the little princess everyone in the family revolved around and most of the roads i had driven
00:57:40through this city had been for someone else but not for much longer not long after the school
00:57:45college counselor called me into her office mallory hayes i saw your awards record honorable mens in the
00:57:51national math olympias that's impressive awards like that carry real weight which schools are you
00:57:57considering for early applications i'm still looking what do your parents think i haven't told them yet
00:58:02something this important and you're not discussing it with your family first
00:58:06i want to look into it myself first i knew that even if i told them no one would take
00:58:10it seriously
00:58:11on last month's mock examine i ranked third in the entire grade i took a photo of my report card
00:58:15and
00:58:15sent it to the family group chat my third place ranking stayed in the chat for only a very short
00:58:19while all it got from mom was one sentence not bad the next message was a video mom sent of
00:58:23chloe
00:58:24dancing that afternoon when i got home i found a dusty letter among a pile of bills and flyers on
00:58:29the
00:58:29coffee table it said congratulations mr and mrs hayes your daughter mallory hayes has received an
00:58:35honorable mention in the national high school mathematics olympiad two months had passed the
00:58:39envelope hadn't even been opened it was tucked between bills and pizza curans completely forgotten
00:58:44at dinner mom answered a facetime call from my aunt my aunt asked about ethan's swim meet mom said he
00:58:50had taken second place in the district pride filling her voice my aunt asked about chloe's dance
00:58:54competition mom said she had won gold at regionals and the judges had praised how steady she was off
00:58:59dyes how's mallory she's applying to college soon too right she's doing fine third in my grade a national
00:59:08math olympic award in mom's mouth all of it became doing fine i sat at the dining table still holding
00:59:14the award letter that had been forgotten for two months no one asked how i had been lately no one
00:59:18turned
00:59:19to me and said mallory what about you i went back to my room opened my laptop and started looking
00:59:23up
00:59:23colleges that would actually care about competition backgrounds in the end i stopped at carnegie melon
00:59:28hundreds of miles away from home no one would remember me only when they needed someone to pick
00:59:32up my sister i opened the application page my fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds
00:59:37before i finally closed it i decided to try one more time if they still couldn't see me this time
00:59:44i would leave completely
00:59:50mallory ashley is coming to stay with us for a while
00:59:54give her your room and share with chloe for now saturday morning mom said it casually while changing
00:59:59shoes by the door i was sitting at the dining table eating cereal my spoon stopped in midair
01:00:08why my room your room gets the best natural light ashley hasn't been feeling well lately and the
01:00:13doctor said more sunlight would be good for her ethan's room has a window too your brother is a boy
01:00:18ashley is a girl how could they share a room then let her stay with chloe chloe needs space to
01:00:23stretch
01:00:23at night your room only has a bed and a desk it's easy to clear out how long is she
01:00:27staying about half
01:00:28a month her summer program is over here i didn't argue anymore experience had taught me a long time ago
01:00:33that arguing was useless that afternoon ashley came in dragging two large suitcases smiling sweetly
01:00:42auntie uncle you're here you're here come in mom was so warm as if an important guest had arrived
01:00:50ashley pushed her suitcases into my room and looked around from the doorway auntie can this bookshelf be
01:00:56moved out i want to put a vanity mirror here of course mallory move the bookshelf out
01:01:04on my bookshelf were three years of notebooks reference books and a few certificates it took me an hour to
01:01:09move everything into a corner of chloe's room that night i laid a mattress on the floor of chloe's room
01:01:17sis why don't you sleep on the bed i'll sleep on the floor no the floor is fine ashley is
01:01:24actually okay
01:01:25don't be upset ashley was never what upset me what hurt was that in this house i was always the
01:01:34one
01:01:34expected to give way on the third day i went back to my room to get review materials and opened
01:01:40the door
01:01:41to find ashley flipping through my math competition notes these are yours your handwriting is so neat
01:01:46yeah please put them back i was just looking you're way too protective of this stuff she casually put
01:01:52the notebook back on the desk i glanced over and suddenly realized one was missing there was a blue
01:01:57one on the desk where is it i didn't touch it i didn't see it i searched for 10 minutes
01:02:02and finally
01:02:03found it in the trash can half the cover had been torn off and several pages inside were soaked with
01:02:08coffee the writing blurred into smears it was the problem solving notebook i had been organizing since
01:02:12freshman year three years i only had that one copy ashley this oh maybe i knocked it over when i
01:02:18was
01:02:19carrying coffee just write another one i stood in the doorway holding the drenched notebook my hands shaking
01:02:27i took the notebook back to chloe's room and dried it page by page with a hair brewer
01:02:33where the writing was blurred i slowly filled it back in with a pencil
01:02:40i worked until one in the morning the next morning ashley sat in my old seat chatting happily with mom
01:02:46no one asked why the circles under my eyes were so dark or what had happened last night and i
01:02:51no
01:02:51longer needed to wait for that one last time from that day on i began preparing to leave until the
01:02:57day
01:02:57i received my acceptance letter i knew the time had come to leave this house i packed my suitcase and
01:03:02bought a gray house ticket for the early dawn departure the next day the destination was pittsburgh then
01:03:07i walked to the door and placed my house key on the small entryway table i left the group chat
01:03:12and
01:03:12deactivated my old phone number the screen went dark the whole world suddenly became much quieter
01:03:20i pulled my suitcase opened the door and closed it softly behind me
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