Chapter 1

The day the family moved into the new house, my mother, Susan Carter, posted the final floor plan in the family group chat. The drawing was neat and clear, every square foot carefully assigned. The room on the left side of the second floor was labeled Ethan Carter. The room on the right, the one with the best light, filled with southern sun all day long, read Leah Morgan's Studio. The master bedroom went to my parents, and even their private walk-in closet had its exact dimensions marked.

I zoomed in and out, checking it over three times.

The one name missing from the whole drawing was mine: Nora Carter.

The only area with no owner marked was a narrow corner beside the laundry room, outlined with a dotted line. The contractor's note was blunt and cold: Temporary Partition.

I looked up at my mother, who was busy choosing the decor, and asked quietly, "Mom, where do I sleep?"

Susan was holding a fabric swatch card, patiently helping Leah match curtain shades. She did not lift her head. Her tone was as flat as if she were settling some trivial errand. "We'll just wall off a section of the basement. Aren't you planning to apply to grad school out of state? You'll be gone sooner or later. It would be a waste to leave a whole bedroom sitting empty."

"Couldn't I stay in Leah's studio for now?" I pressed.

Ethan came down the stairs carrying a box of hardcovers, certain he was stating the obvious. "Leah's thesis project is due next month. Her work needs plenty of natural light. All you do is crunch data on a computer. The basement is more than enough."

I pushed down the ache in my chest and said evenly, "I was only asking."

"You've always been independent and reasonable. Don't nitpick over something this small."

With one offhand remark, she shut down every argument I had. I stopped talking and turned toward the cold, damp basement.

The floor was raw, unfinished concrete, rough and cold. A folding mattress leaned alone beside the washing machine, and my moving boxes were stacked in a dense wall against the corner. The narrow window well showed nothing but the toes of shoes passing on the sidewalk. No daylight, no view.

The noise upstairs filtered down through the floorboards, clear and grating. Leah asked softly whether they should switch to brass doorknobs. My boyfriend, Adam Brooks, agreed warmly and said he would come by on the weekend just to set up her easel. Susan laughed along and said that was what a girl's room should look like.

In this brand-new, spacious house, everyone's future had already been planned, every person neatly accommodated. Ethan had his own bedroom, Leah had her sunlit studio, and my parents had a spacious master suite. Everyone belonged somewhere.

Everyone but me. I had been quietly written off as someone who would leave sooner or later, someone who did not need to be settled anywhere.

I had wanted to ask my father whether there would still be a place for me here when I came home on break from grad school.

But my father, Daniel Carter, was upstairs, focused on measuring shelf dimensions for Ethan, and he never once glanced toward the basement. When Susan tossed off, "A simple wall in the basement will be enough," all he gave her was a vague "Mm."

I sat down on a cold cardboard box and opened my email. Pinned at the top was the newest message, an offer letter from Professor Adrian Grant. The High Plateau Aviation Meteorology Research Center in New Mexico had formally offered me a five-year fixed project position, with a report date twenty-three days out.

The gust prediction model I had developed on my own had crushed every legacy system in the national blind trials and beaten every competing entry. The center was handing me full authority over the model's initial iteration and its rollout.

His call came through right after, and his voice carried a gravity that left no room for argument. "Nora, the test group has been waiting three full weeks for your signature. There is no one else who can fill this role. If you give up, the entire first-phase testing window has to be scrapped and rebuilt."

I looked at the blank signature field on the screen and said calmly and firmly, "I'll come."

I lowered my hand and signed my full name, stroke by stroke: Nora Carter.

At the housewarming dinner that night, the table was covered with the dishes Leah liked. Susan had made baked mac and cheese and roast chicken, all mild things suited to her taste. Adam crouched on the living room floor, carefully assembling Leah's drafting table and tightening the screws in its legs.

Nobody noticed me carrying in a pot of the spicy beef and bean chili I loved. I had just set it on the stove to heat when Susan clamped a hand down on the lid.

"Don't heat that." Her tone allowed no discussion. "Leah has a headache today. She can't handle the smell of spice."

I took my hand back, poured a glass of water, and sat down quietly. Adam looked up and asked offhandedly whether the move had worn me out, then turned away before I could answer and started asking Leah in detail whether she wanted her own storage cabinets ordered tomorrow.

I went back down to the empty, chilly basement alone and crossed off a day on my phone calendar.

Twenty-three days until I reported for work.