Chapter 3

I rushed toward Mom, practically throwing myself at her hand. "Mom, don't!"

But my hands passed right through her. Watching the food fall into the trash, I felt my heart turn to ash. Oh, well. Forget it. It wasn't as if I could eat it anyway.

At least I could look at it one last time. I could pretend that, just once, she had really saved me a shrimp.

The next second, as though disgusted by the sight of the food, she slammed the lid shut. "This is what happens when you spoil a child! Since she's so independent, she might as well never come back!"

Dad shook his head and sighed. "Sophie's getting more and more rebellious."

I watched them turn and walk back to their bedroom. It felt as if someone was squeezing my heart until it burst.

I didn't refuse to come home, Mom, Dad. I just couldn't.

Early the next morning, the first thing Mom did after getting up was storm over to my room and shove the door open.

"Where the hell were you last night, young lady? What time did you get home? You're even sleeping in, too?"

The door flew open, but my bedroom was empty. She stood frozen in the doorway, the words dying on her lips. Hearing the commotion, Dad came over. "What's the matter?"

Mom spun around, seething with anger. "Do you see this? She's gone too far this time! She ran away from home!"

He frowned. "What? Should we ask our family and friends to look for her then?"

Mom simply grabbed her phone and froze my debit card.

"She's so strong and independent, isn't she? Let's see how many days she can last out there! When she comes crawling back, she'd better get on her knees and apologize to me!"

I floated beside her and gently shook my head. Even if I did apologize, she wouldn't be able to hear me anymore.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Mom assumed it was me. She pulled the door open with a cold expression, ready to yell, only to realize my homeroom teacher, Ms. Lowe, was standing outside.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sink, I'm here for a home visit."

My nose stung, and my eyes watered the moment I saw Ms. Lowe. She was the first person to notice that something was wrong with my eyesight.

Around that time, I kept copying things down incorrectly in class. More than once, I had embarrassed myself by giving the wrong answer when called on.

She called Mom and Dad about it, but all they did was scold me.

"Everyone else can copy the notes correctly. Why does she get so much wrong?"

"If she spent less time daydreaming and more time studying, maybe she'd actually look at the whiteboard!"

One day, after first period, she suddenly called me into her office. She flipped through my notebook and said softly, "Sophie, why don't you sit in the front row from now on?"

From that day on, I could finally make out a little more of what was written on the whiteboard. Still, by then, my nearsightedness was already severe, and I couldn't catch up with my classmates academically.

Even so, seeing Ms. Lowe now filled me with gratitude. I happily waved at her, but she walked straight through me.

Right. I had forgotten. She couldn't see me.

Ms. Lowe gave a polite nod. "Is Sophie home?"

Mom immediately let out a cold snort. "That brat. First she started lying. Then she ran away from home."

Ms. Lowe froze. "She ran away from home? But she doesn't seem like the rebellious kind… Could something have happened to her? Why don't we report her missing to the police?"

"No," Mom replied, sneering. "She'll come crawling back on her own once she's starved out there for a couple of days."

Dad nodded. "That's right. Ms. Lowe, I'm sure she's just throwing a tantrum."

Ms. Lowe looked at Mom and Dad, then fell silent. In the end, she sighed. "Actually, I came here today to speak to you about Sophie."

She took out the results from the latest monthly exams.

"Sophie's grades have been dropping sharply lately. I've noticed that she's always squinting at the whiteboard during class, and she often borrows notes from her classmates after class.

"I've already moved her to the front row, but she's still struggling. I suspect she may have a serious vision problem. Have either of you taken her to get her eyes checked?"

Mom was deeply unamused. She shot to her feet.

"A vision problem? Her dad and I both have 20/20 vision, and her sister's is 20/10! No one else in our family is nearsighted. Why is she the only one with so many issues?"