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Ten Marks on the Wall
Ten Marks on the Wall
مؤلف: Little Minnow

Chapter 1

مؤلف: Little Minnow
Like always, I took the bus home.

The driver recognized me and looked surprised. "Kid, you just finished your finals. Nobody came to pick you up?"

I smiled and shook my head before taking a seat by the window.

A message from Mom popped up on my phone.

She said Rosie had done really well and the whole family was going out to Bellamy's that night to celebrate.

I stared at the words "whole family" for a long moment before replying:

[I'll be home in fifteen minutes.]

The typing bubble appeared, disappeared, then appeared again.

Eventually, Mom sent:

[Maybe you shouldn't come tonight. When it's your turn to take the placement exam, I'll take you out separately.]

I looked down at the exam ID card in my hand.

I was still wondering whether I should tell her that I'd taken the exam this year too when another message came in, this time from Grant.

[Vivi, you're old enough to understand things now, right?]

[Before you turned seven, you were sick all the time. Everyone in this family revolved around you.]

[Today is Rosie's last day of exams. It's important to her. Don't make this about you.]

[You already owe Rosie enough.]

A familiar helplessness washed over me.

I knew exactly what he was going to bring up again - the day Rosie had almost been kidnapped when we were seven.

It happened during one of Rosie's performances. I suddenly collapsed in the audience, and Mom scooped me up without a second thought and rushed me out.

When I woke up later, Mom's eyes were swollen from crying.

"We can't find your sister."

Then she stared at me and demanded, "Did you do that on purpose? I was already paying attention to you. Why couldn't you just sit quietly and watch your sister perform for once?"

Rosie was found three days later.

She threw herself into Mom's arms and sobbed.

I crept over, clutching my favorite stuffed toy. I wanted to give it to her.

Grant shoved me away so hard I nearly fell.

"What now? Are you going to pretend to be sick again? Get lost!"

From that day on, everyone decided I was jealous and desperate for attention.

Rosie, the daughter they'd almost lost, received all the love and care in the family.

I became invisible.

Even when I was actually sick, they assumed I was faking it.

"Your health has been fine for years. Are you really trying this trick again just to scare us?"

"For the first seven years, all of us revolved around you. From now on, we need to make it up to your sister.

"That's only fair."

The memory faded, and the bus came back into focus.

I blinked away the sting in my eyes and replied to Grant with a single word.

[Okay.]

When I got off the bus, the family car happened to pass right beside me.

The window was down.

Rosie was wearing a frilly party dress, curled up against Mom and beaming.

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  • Ten Marks on the Wall   Chapter 10

    Mom hurried to say, "I transferred money to you, Vivi. That should be enough, right?"A notification appeared on my phone.Ten thousand dollars had just hit my account.I stared at the number, emotions twisting together inside me."Mom."Do you remember when I was in eighth grade and the school organized a class trip? It cost two hundred dollars."You said it was too expensive."Even when I graduated, you wouldn't let me go to the class dinner."You told me I'd already cost the family so much money when I was sick."I gave a small laugh and transferred the money straight back."I don't dare take your money anymore."Grandma started crying again."Vivi, Grandma will give you money. Just come home."Everyone is waiting for you.""There's no need."I only happened to rank first on one exam."If Mom and Dad had paid even a little attention to me, they would've known I'd been ranking first on every practice test for months."After I ended the call, Mom sent me a long apolog

  • Ten Marks on the Wall   Chapter 9

    I had no idea what was happening back home.All I knew was that the moment my plane landed in Boston, my phone lit up with missed calls.I ignored them.With my backpack over one shoulder, I headed toward campus."Vivian, thank you for choosing Northbridge," Dr. Marsh said when she met me. "We're going to make sure you have every opportunity to succeed here."I hadn't expected the dean of admissions to come in person, and I could feel my face warming."Thank you for making an exception and letting me start early."She smiled. "That was the easy part."She walked me over to the residence hall herself.After learning about my circumstances, the school had arranged a private room for me.She even took me to lunch.The scholarship money landed in my account that afternoon.With it, I bought the basic things I needed to live on my own.For the first time in years, I lay down on a freshly made bed that was completely mine.My whole body finally relaxed.I slept better than I h

  • Ten Marks on the Wall   Chapter 8

    There was almost nothing inside the tiny room except a bed and a few cardboard boxes.Anyone could see it had once been used for storage.One of my aunts cried out, "You made Vivi live in here?""Didn't she have her own bedroom? What happened to it?"Mom's face went red."I... I turned it into Rosie's walk-in closet."As everyone stared at her, she hurried to defend herself."It was because Vivi stole money from her sister, so we-""Stole money?" Grandpa cut in. "Why would Vivi steal money?"Grandma frowned and stepped farther into the room.On the bedside table, she found a hospital statement.It showed that ten days earlier, I'd spent almost five hundred dollars being treated for an allergic reaction.Before Grandma could say anything, an aunt suddenly shouted, "There's writing on the wall!"The cameraman immediately turned toward it.Above a row of tally marks, I'd written:[DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE]Grandma burst into tears."What have you done to that child?"She clutc

  • Ten Marks on the Wall   Chapter 7

    Once it was confirmed that I was the student the news crew had come to interview, Mom bit her lip and said irritably, "That girl. She took the exam this year and didn't tell us, and now she's made the whole family look ridiculous."Rosie had gone from soaring excitement to humiliation in minutes. She clung to Grant and cried."Mom, Vivi did this on purpose!""Whether she did or not can wait," Grandma snapped. "Vivi ranked first in the state. That's good news."Then she turned on Mom."And you. Have you never attended one of Vivi's parent-teacher conferences?"How can a mother not even know what grade her own daughter is in?"Mom had nothing to say.Only then did everyone seem to remember how annoyed they had always looked whenever I tried to talk about school.Eventually, I'd simply stopped.When a teacher asked for a parent at a conference, I said mine were busy.When a form needed a signature, I copied Mom's or Dad's handwriting and signed it myself.No teacher ever suspe

  • Ten Marks on the Wall   Chapter 6

    The camera swung toward the computer screen.People kept asking what Rosie had scored.Rosie herself stared at the page as if someone had closed a hand around her throat.She couldn't say a word.Mom leaned in and her eyes went wide."What? How can that be?"Dad immediately said, "The score must have been entered incorrectly. We should call the state education board."Ethan was standing behind everyone and couldn't see the screen yet.He laughed lightly."Maybe the full result hasn't posted. Sometimes top-ranked scores get held for verification."He squeezed through the crowd as he spoke.Then he saw the number on the screen.1180.He took a sharp step backward."Did you enter the wrong student ID?"The reporter looked just as stunned.She compared the photo she'd been given with Rosie and was just about to ask whether her name was Vivian Hart when Grandma and Grandpa arrived carrying gifts."There's our brilliant granddaughter!" Grandpa called. "You made the whole fam

  • Ten Marks on the Wall   Chapter 5

    "Who are you looking for?"Mom and Dad exchanged confused looks.Even if Rosie had performed better than expected, there was no way she'd ranked first in the state. Certainly not well enough for a news crew to show up at our home.The reporter smiled."You haven't checked the results yet?"Your family has the highest-scoring student in the entire state!"Rosie rushed over so fast she nearly tripped.Her lips trembled with excitement."No way. Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"Then her eyes lit up."Oh! I know. You must be here for Ethan, right?"She ran across the hall and pounded on his door."Ethan! There's a news crew here to interview you!"Her shouting brought Ethan out - and half the floor with him.Within minutes, word had spread through the whole building that someone in 4B had come out on top of the state.Ethan opened the door, clearly startled."Interview me?"That can't be right. The scores came out this morning. I did okay, but not that well."He l

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