All Chapters of No Longer Wanted, I Left Them Hanging: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Summer was my absolute favorite time of the year. Just like most kids, I hated being in school, and would have much rather been outside riding my bike or swimming. On this particular day, we were outside by the pool. The laughter of children my age filled the deck. Armed with the most high tech squirt guns money could buy, we were all chasing eachother around, battling it out to an aqua-infused “death.”Kylee, my best friend, had taken center stage and had teamed up with me to strategically plaster everyone while also watching one another’s backs. Today was Kylee’s birthday, and my parents, who had been fostering her for several months now, had decided to throw her a party at my pleading. It was the first real party that Kylee had ever had and she was beaming with joy.The two of us had become inseparable that year. We had become fast friends during a group project in one of our classes. Now, we were absolute besties. When Kylee told me that she had been dragged into another foster ho

My escape from that hell had been well planned. When I realized that my parents were never going to believe a thing I said again, I had started working on my exit strategy. Everything had been rehearsed in my head over and over again. After I told Mr. Harland about my acceptance to Harvard, the reality had hit me. This was really happening. When I got home that night, I was surprised to find that the family had just sat down at the dinner table to eat. This was not overly common, as I usually got home so late that dinner was long over. It was part of my plot to stay as far away from Kylee as possible. So when my mother beckoned me to sit with the family, I cringed. “I’m not hungry, but thank you.” “Nonsense. You’re never home to eat with us. Sit.” My dad commanded. Grumbling, I did as I was told. It was just the four of us tonight. My dad sat at the head of the table, with my mom and Kylee on either side of him. “Sit next to me, Sarah!” Kylee hyped while patting the seat ne

“I need you to try a few things on for me.” Mrs. Harland said. “Now, I know that your parents aren’t going to be getting you anything proper to wear for your graduation day. So I’m going to do it for you. You’re also going to need a few nice things to take with you to Harvard if you’re going to look the part. So I’ve got the black card, and Mr. Harland told me to spare nothing for you. Your job today is to go crazy and have fun.” I didn’t even know what to say. A doorman let us into the store, and she immediately led us me to the dress section. There were a lot of pretty dresses there. Too pretty for me, but Mrs. Harland was beaming so brightly that I couldn’t just say no to her. My eyes keyed in on a few that I liked. A silvery medusa drape dress, a lace trimmed satin mini dress, printed twill mini shirt dresses in light pink and blue. I loved the lace trimmed dress, but it was too short for my comfort. The mini shirt dresses were too casual. The medusa dress was too formal. My e

My graduating class sat next to the stage, pumped and ready for the ceremony to start. Everyone sat there conversing with one another. The main topic of the chatter was who might the mystery valedictorian be. I smiled to myself, knowing that they were all about to be surprised. The opening ceremony started, and Mr. Cunningham took his place at the stage. He gave his commencement speech, and then moved on to introducing me. “This years valedictorian has shown what hard work and dedication is all about. Despite facing an unusual amount of stress from both her family and her peers, this student has shown what it takes to persevere and come out on top. She has already been accepted into a pristine university with a full ride scholarship, and I couldn’t be more proud of this student. I now introduce your Senior Class valedictorian. Ms. Sarah Lewiston. The crowd gasped as I stood up. The echoes of my heels clacking on the ground were the only thing that anyone could hear as I took my p

That day, I walked out of the venue unnoticed while everyone had sat there shocked and covered in cake. I spent my summer with the Harlands, who helped me to open up my own bank account to put away all the money I had earned. There were quite a few more zeroes than I had thought there would be, and I had the feeling that they had added some funds to it, but I took the money with grace. The Harland family was the closest thing to a family that I’d had, and they even flew with me to find my own place and get settled in. Their final gift to me was the car that I had been denied along with driving lessons. They were going well, although I terrified the heck out of my teacher. When the semester started, I poured myself into my studies, focusing on all of the classes that I knew were going to be hard. Although I didn’t need to get a job, I picked one up anyways. It was at a little café around the corner of the place I had gotten near the school. A lot of people I went to class with st