Frozen on Exam Day

My limbs felt like they had been filled with lead. On the other side of the door, I could hear Darren Merritt, my older brother.

"Dad, Mom, just let Wes out. His grades are amazing. You can't make him miss the SATs..."

"Shut up!" Mom's voice was sharp and furious.

"How can you stand there and defend him? Have you forgotten what he did the year he got first place? How he was standing right in front of you, showing off?"

I knew exactly which time she meant. I was ten. I had scored a perfect 100 on the math test, 20 points higher than Darren. I ran home holding the paper up, so excited my face was flushed.

"I'm better than Darren," I had said.

Darren went pale. Mom burst into tears on the spot, and Dad came at me and slapped me so hard that I was knocked to the floor.

Blood ran from my nose, dripping onto the test results I had been so proud of. That night, they locked me in the freezer to think about what I had done and, by the time they let me out the next morning, I could not feel my hands or feet anymore.

"He's always been calculating. He knew about that prophecy and still came running home to wave it around. He did it on purpose!" Mom's voice was ice-cold.

I slumped against the door. I did not even have the strength to shake my head anymore.

That was not true. I was ten years old. I was just a kid who wanted her to be proud of me. I understood that she was afraid of losing Darren, but why did she have to treat me like the enemy? I was her child too.

My hand kept slapping against the door. I was trying to tell them they had forgotten to turn the freezer off.

"Mom, come on. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm not that fragile. Do you really think I'd get depressed just because my little brother's smarter than me?" Darren's voice was tight with worry.

"What if that psychic was making it all up? You can't lock Wes up over something like that."

Dad cut in right away. "That's enough, Darren. We're not letting you take that risk."

He turned toward the freezer and his tone dropped, heavier now, more measured.

"Wes, we're doing this for the whole family. You don't want to watch your brother jump off a building because of you, do you? Just stay in there. Once Darren finishes his exam, all of this will be over, okay?"

I could not answer. The cold had already seeped all the way into my lungs.

My chest ached like the frost was cracking it open from the inside. I pulled together everything I had left and hit the door one last time.

Mom came storming over and kicked it. "Wesley Merritt! What the hell is your problem? Do I need to come in there and deal with you myself?"

Then she opened it. The door cracked open, just enough for a sliver of light to get through, and my heart jumped into my throat.

Was I saved?