Chapter 4

The next day, Noah sent me a string of texts.

[Emma, we’ll be home tomorrow night.]

[Go look at apartments near campus today. Mia doesn’t want to live in a dorm, so find a two-bedroom place and sign the lease.]

[Move your things in while you’re at it.]

I read the messages and set my phone down without a flicker of emotion.

They had never once asked which universities I had applied to. They had simply decided that I would stay in Seattle.

Luke was going to Seattle University, and Mia was taking classes at a community college nearby.

As far as my family was concerned, my only purpose was to keep taking care of Mia while trailing after Luke like a devoted little shadow.

Mom texted me too.

[Once college starts, make sure you look after Mia and Luke.]

[We’ll cover the rent, but you’ll need to work for your own spending money. You’re eighteen now. It’s time you learned to be independent.]

Independent.

What a convenient word.

Mia needed the entire family waiting on her. She needed a trip to Hawaii to recover from stress. She needed an off-campus apartment.

But because I was eighteen, I was expected to work for every dollar I spent while taking care of both of them.

I had no interest in arguing anymore, so I silenced my phone.

My room was already empty. Other than the bed and an old wardrobe, nothing remained.

I had erased the few traces of myself that had ever existed in this house.

I packed my toiletries into my backpack and zipped it shut.

A one-way ticket to London lay on the desk. My flight left at three the next afternoon, just hours before they were due home.

I looked around the house where I had spent my whole life and felt nothing at all.

That evening, I cleaned it one last time.

Mia’s dress was hanging in her closet, and I had put fresh allergy-proof bedding on her bed. Everything was exactly as they had demanded.

At dawn the next morning, I slipped on my backpack and quietly closed the front door behind me.

The morning air was cool against my skin.

I ordered an Uber.

As the familiar streets slid past the window, I felt calmer than I had in years.

My phone lit up with a text from Luke.

[Emma, did you pick up Mia’s dress?]

[We’ll be home tonight. Pick a restaurant. I’ll take you out when I get back.]

I almost laughed.

Dinner with me? It was nothing more than a scrap of attention meant to keep me waiting exactly where he had left me.

I opened his Instagram profile and blocked him.

Then I blocked Mom, Dad, Noah, and Mia. Every person who tied me to that house.

I removed my SIM card, snapped it in half, and tossed it out the car window.

At the airport, I checked my luggage and made it through security without any trouble.

I sat in the departure lounge and watched the flights scroll across the screen.

A gentle voice came over the speakers.

“Attention, passengers traveling to London. Your flight is now boarding.”

I rose and walked toward the gate.

Goodbye to the Emma who had always accepted second place.

From now on, my life belonged to me.