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Chapter 6
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The Forgotten One in the Frame Chapter 9
After that, none of them ever came looking for me again. The next four years flew by. I earned a place in my college's graduate program and was also selected for an exchange program at a top college overseas.Life was busy, but I was content. Everything that had happened before seemed like a lifetime ago. On my day of departure, I was waiting in line for airport security with my suitcase when I happened to glance outside. It was Mom and Mitchell. Mom had aged considerably. Her shoulders were hunched as she walked alongside Mitchell, fussing over him the entire way."Just watch your temper at the audition, okay? Don't go sulking or getting smart with the director. I had to call in so many favors just to get you this opportunity."Mitchell kept walking. His face was covered in heavy makeup, and he looked thoroughly fed up. Over the years, I'd occasionally heard snippets of news about them from former classmates. Mitchell had gotten into a performing arts college. He was ce
The Forgotten One in the Frame Chapter 8
The moment my words struck a nerve, Meredith flew into a rage. She grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the exit. "Stop running your mouth! You're coming home with me, and we're going to talk about this!"Students walking past the library gathered around when they saw what was happening. A few guys even stepped in between us. "Hey! What are you doing?" one of them barked. "We knew something was up with you two! And now you're trying to drag him off campus? Where's security? Someone get them out of here!"The other students gathered around me, shielding me from Lavinia and Meredith as they watched the two of them warily.The kindness of these strangers overwhelmed me. A lump rose in my throat, and my eyes stung with unshed tears.So it turned out that strangers who didn't even know me knew how to protect me. But my own family had become a burden I could no longer bear. Before long, security showed up and escorted Lavinia and Meredith off campus. With the commotion
The Forgotten One in the Frame Chapter 7
That night, three hashtags shot to the top of the trending list, namely #FavoritismExposed, #JusticeForMaxwell, and #BalconyBedroom. The comments were pouring in so fast that they were practically impossible to keep up with. Someone had posted a nine-photo collage comparing my room to Mitchell's, and the replies were filled with furious reactions."He was abandoned at a theme park when he was seven years old, and his own family treated him like an outcast at 18. That's not favoritism. That's abuse!"Another wrote, "He's clearly smart enough to be the top student in the state, but he deliberately did badly on his exams. Why? So his little brother wouldn't feel bad?""One kid gets all the latest gadgets, while the other gets a language-learning device. The nerve of this family."People tracked down Mitchell's TikTok account that very night. His pinned video was a selfie from their theme park trip, and it was captioned "Surrounded by love". The video had gone from barely a dozen
The Forgotten One in the Frame Chapter 6
The next day, the ride home was unusually quiet.Mitchell leaned against the window, his thumbs flying across his phone as he messaged a classmate to find out who'd gotten the highest SAT score in the state that year.Seconds later, his classmate sent back a screenshot. The post read, "Maxwell Simmons of Central High had earned a 1590 on the SAT and been accepted into University of Pravia as the state's top scorer."Mitchell went pale as he quietly deleted the conversation. He didn't dare to breathe a word about what he'd seen. Meredith was sitting in the front passenger seat, already preparing to give me an earful. But when she pulled up our messages to text me, she discovered I'd blocked her. Lavinia had gone out of her way to drive past Central High School. As they drove past the school gates, they saw an enormous banner. It was stretched across the front of the school, and its gold lettering was impossible to miss. "Congratulations to Central High senior Maxwell Simmons,
The Forgotten One in the Frame Chapter 5
At the theme park, Lavinia's phone buzzed with a notification that I'd left the group chat. She froze for a beat, then instinctively opened our chat, ready to demand an explanation. Before she could do anything, Mitchell called out excitedly, "Lavinia! Come take a picture of the whole castle for me!"Lavinia quickly put her phone away, adjusted the zoom, and suppressed the flicker of panic.…Lavinia, Meredith, and Mitchell spent the entire day going from one attraction to the next. By the time they finally settled onto a bench to rest, their legs were sore from all the walking. Just then, Meredith's phone rang. It was Mom."Mer, do you know where Maxwell is? I wanted to take him out to dinner tonight, but I can't find him anywhere.""He's probably back at the café, working his summer job," Meredith replied offhandedly."A summer job?" Mom was taken aback. "If he needs money, why doesn't he just ask me? It's not like I've ever deprived him of anything."Meredith scoffed. "He
The Forgotten One in the Frame Chapter 4
That evening, I came home with the money I'd made at work. Mom was crouched beside Mitchell's backpack, packing for his trip. As she went, she reminded him, "Looks like it's going to be really sunny these next few days. Make sure you reapply your sunscreen every two hours."Then, she told Meredith, "Mer, keep an eye on your brother. It'll be crowded, so make sure he doesn't get shoved around."Meredith nodded and stuffed her backpack with two big bags of Mitchell's favorite snacks. "Don't worry, Mom. I've got him covered. I won't let anything happen to him."Meanwhile, Mitchell sat cross-legged on his bed. His gaze wandered around the room before settling on the baseball cap on my desk. "Mom, that's a pretty cool hat. I'd look great in pictures wearing it."Without even looking up, Mom grabbed the cap and stuffed it into his backpack. "Maxwell, you're not going anyway. Mitchell can borrow it for the trip."I opened my mouth to say something, then thought better of it. I was
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