Chapter 2

I went to school first thing the next morning.

Ms. Stouder motioned for me to take the chair across from her desk.

“Emma, you did it.”

“Your low-cost water filtration project took the top prize at the national youth science competition.”

“The foundation is covering your tuition, housing, and basic living expenses. I’m so proud of how far you’ve come.”

She hesitated before asking, “Are you sure you don’t want to tell your parents before you go?”

My fingers tightened in my lap.

The previous Wednesday had been my eighteenth birthday.

Mia had spent the entire week crying over her fight with Luke.

To cheer her up, my parents drove across Seattle for her favorite strawberry cake while Noah bought her gifts and Luke stayed home playing video games with her.

They spent the entire evening comforting Mia. Not one of them remembered my birthday.

Would a family like mine really care where I went?

“Emma?”

Ms. Stouder’s voice pulled me back.

“If you think your family will object, maybe you should still talk to them.”

“Going to university in another country is a big decision.”

I took a slow breath.

“I’ve already made up my mind. This is a decision I need to make for myself.”

She studied the resolve on my face and didn’t press me.

“All right. If you’re sure, I respect your choice.”

“Send me an email when you get to England.”

I thanked her and left the office.

The sunlight outside was painfully bright. I raised a hand to shield my eyes and realized they were damp.

I found a bench in the shade and took out my phone.

Mom had just uploaded a new post to Instagram. There were more than a dozen photos.

One showed them walking through the surf.

Another showed a table covered with seafood.

The last was a picture of Luke and Mia.

Luke was peeling a shrimp for her, his head bent in concentration. Mia smiled at him as if she had never been happier.

The caption read: [Finally got all my favorite people together. The perfect family vacation.]

Relatives filled the comments with likes and heart emojis.

My aunt asked, “Where’s Emma?”

Mom replied, “Emma prefers staying home to work on her research projects.”

A dull ache spread through my chest.

So that was all they knew about me.

They knew I was smart. It was the one fact they remembered whenever they wanted me to sacrifice something. But they had never asked what I was working toward.

They didn’t know I had spent three years designing a low-cost water filtration system.

They didn’t know the project had won a national youth science competition.

The work they had never once asked about had helped earn me a place at Cambridge.

I calmly liked Mom’s post, then closed Instagram.

Six more days, and I would finally be free of this place.

When I got home, I started cleaning, just as Noah had ordered.

I wiped down every corner of the living room before moving on to Mia’s bedroom.

Her room was large and south-facing, flooded with sunlight. Her closet was packed with the latest clothes.

Expensive skincare products and collectible Labubu figures covered her desk.

After mopping the floor, I noticed a velvet box on her nightstand.

The lid was slightly open, revealing a necklace set with a blue gemstone.

It was Luke’s birthday present to her.

I had seen that necklace once in a note on his phone.

He had labeled it Emma’s graduation present.

In the end, it had gone around Mia’s neck.

Luke had explained it away at the time.

“Emma, Mia really likes the necklace.”

“You hardly ever wear jewelry anyway. Just let her have it.”

“I’ll get you something better later.”

I hadn’t argued. I hadn’t cried. I had just stopped thinking of the necklace as mine.

I closed Mia’s door and returned to my converted storage room.

Lying on the hard mattress, I stared blankly at the ceiling.

If you expected nothing, you couldn’t be disappointed.

It had taken me three years to understand that.