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Chapter 2

Author: Drunken Beast
No one noticed my mood change.

No one noticed my red eyes.

After Quinn told me I was making too much of one parent-teacher conference, everyone silently decided the subject was closed.

I was supposed to know better.

So they went back to eating.

Quinn's plate quickly became a mountain of food.

Mom and Dad competed over everything involving her.

"Quinn, have some of Mom's roast. Your father burned the steaks."

"Quinn, don't listen to her. That roast is practically raw in the middle."

Quinn.

Quinn.

Again and again.

Sometimes they talked with their mouths full, and for half a second the sound blurred enough that I thought they'd said Gwen.

I would look up.

No one was looking at me.

My sister hadn't always been named Quinn.

She was born Sienna Carter.

After our parents divorced, Mom was determined to give her the name Quinn — Mom's family name.

She was willing to walk away from the settlement with nothing to get it.

She and Dad had a screaming match outside the courthouse.

I was little.

I remember grabbing at their coats, trying to pull them apart.

"Mom, I can take your name. Change mine instead. Please stop fighting."

She yanked her arm away.

"I don't need you to have my name."

I sat down hard on the sidewalk where she'd shoved me.

They only stopped fighting when my sister burst into tears.

In the end, neither parent got exactly what they wanted.

Dad refused to let her lose the Carter surname.

So Mom made her Quinn Carter instead.

Her first name became Mom's family name.

A name built entirely out of how badly they both wanted her.

After dinner, Mom linked arms with Quinn.

"Your sister is switching dorms at Ashgrove. Your father is hopeless with packing, so I'm going to help her. You can take the bus to registration tomorrow."

I stopped her.

"Mom, you haven't given me my school fees yet."

She didn't even turn around.

"I already paid Quinn's tuition. Ask your father for yours."

Dad glared at her back.

"You had to take paying Quinn's tuition from me too? That was supposed to be mine."

Then he reluctantly transferred money to my account.

As he did, he looked at me with suspicion.

"You're so quiet and stubborn. Your grades probably aren't anything special either, right?

"Can you even get into a decent university?

"Don't make your mother and me throw money away."

I nodded without expression.

I was in the top three of my entire class.

Every other parent in my grade knew that.

The only two who didn't were my own.

They hadn't cared before.

From now on, they didn't need to.

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  • Every September, They Chose My Sister   Chapter 10

    The following September, it was time to switch again.Mom walked toward me looking close to tears with relief."Gwen, can I come to Redstone with you? I won't be any trouble. I have my pension."Before I could turn her down, Dad got there first."Who does that? You go out to Redstone and dig in, and what, Gwen keeps you forever?""So what if she does?"And they were arguing again.Quinn didn't step in the way she used to when she was young.She lit a cigarette and watched them, bored.Then she looked at me."Gwen, lend me some money. Dad wants a housekeeper and I can't afford one."I didn't look up."Then don't hire one. Whoever has them that year handles it."Quinn scoffed and didn't speak to me again.During Mom's year with me, she needed major back surgery.I still didn't fly home, but I hired an excellent caregiver.And there was never a moment when the hospital needed a family decision and couldn't reach anyone.The surgery went well. Her recovery was smooth.But

  • Every September, They Chose My Sister   Chapter 9

    The year I finished my doctorate, Dad needed gallbladder surgery.Aunt Diane called from Erin's phone and told me to come home and look after him.I didn't follow."Isn't Quinn there? Have Quinn do it."Aunt Diane hedged."Quinn's traveling. She says the flights and the hotel are already booked and she can't get the money back."I still refused."Dad's only fifty-seven. He isn't old enough for anyone to owe him care, and this surgery isn't life or death. He can make his own arrangements."Hiring a caregiver doesn't cost that much."Aunt Diane muttered, "Doesn't cost that much? It's a hundred and fifty dollars a day. Unless you're paying?"I smiled."Sure. When he's old enough that it's legally my responsibility and he needs a caregiver, come find me and I'll pay for it."Right now? No."Erin told me the relatives back home were calling me cold-blooded behind my back.I didn't care."Where were any of them when I was the one being treated like an afterthought?"Quinn was

  • Every September, They Chose My Sister   Chapter 8

    Erin, Aunt Diane's older daughter, was two years younger than me.Her parents openly favored her younger brother, so she'd grown up invisible in her own house too.That's why, even after I stopped speaking to the relatives back home, I kept her number.When she needed help choosing classes, planning applications, or working through an assignment, I always answered.After college I stayed at Redstone for graduate school.When Erin saw the photo I posted from orientation, she messaged to congratulate me.Then she added:"Here's something funny. Uncle Daniel and Aunt Rachel don't like Quinn nearly as much anymore."That was a surprise.Quinn once took money out of the house to buy her friends dinner and Mom barely raised her voice.I'd assumed that short of murder or arson, she could do anything and stay their perfect child.Erin took my silence as permission to keep going."Two years ago, Uncle Daniel ran downstairs to grab a file. When he came back, the proposal on his deskt

  • Every September, They Chose My Sister   Chapter 7

    When I finished making my bed and climbed down, all three of my roommates were standing up."Come on. Let's go find the dining hall."I blinked."You were waiting for me?"The girl across from my bunk linked her arm through mine."We all came from different places, but this room is our little home now. You don't leave somebody behind on day one."My eyes suddenly burned.A little home.Was that what a home was? A place where nobody got left behind?One year, our September handoff dinner fell on the same day as the citywide math competition.I still got to the restaurant first.I ordered everything.I explained every food preference.I made sure the table was ready.Then I left for the competition.The moment it ended, I hurried back.All I found was a table of picked-over plates and cold leftovers.Mom gestured at the mess."Eat."Like she was putting a bowl down for a stray dog.Now, walking under the welcome banners with three girls who had known me less than a da

  • Every September, They Chose My Sister   Chapter 6

    For every September handoff dinner, I'd always arrived two hours early.I put in the order for everyone's favorites.I told the kitchen about every ingredient someone wouldn't eat.I even wiped down the table and the silverware before anyone else walked in.So when Mom stepped into the private room and found an empty table, she stopped short.Dad and Quinn came in right behind her.Dad frowned."Where's Gwen? Why hasn't she ordered anything?"Half the seafood is already sold out for the night. What is she doing?"Mom set down her bag."I don't know. Her suitcase was gone when I woke up. I assumed she came here early."Quinn shrugged."Just order whatever's fastest. I'm meeting friends tonight. I don't want to sit around waiting."Mom and Dad agreed at once and waved down a server.When the food arrived, Quinn stared at it."Mom! I don't eat cilantro!"Mom picked through the shrimp and finally spotted the garnish.Other dishes had raw onion in them, which neither Quinn

  • Every September, They Chose My Sister   Chapter 5

    At New Year's, the whole extended family gathered again.Quinn ate a little, then ran outside to watch fireworks with her friends.Mom and Dad started arguing about which test-prep program Quinn should enroll in.Their voices climbed until everyone else at the table went silent.Aunt Diane nudged me."Gwen, they're about to kill each other. Go calm them down."I kept peeling shrimp without looking up."I'm not going."Grandma Ruth glared at me."Your parents are practically fighting and you can still sit there eating?"I'd tried to break up their fights more times than I could count.Before the divorce.After the divorce.Not once had it worked.Two years earlier, at our September handoff dinner, they'd started arguing before we even ordered.Quinn was running late, so it was just the three of us in the room.When the shouting got worse, I said something careful and neutral, taking neither side.Mom turned on me instantly."I'm the one supporting you this year and you

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