All Chapters of Outgrowing My Small-Minded Family: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

I tossed my phone onto the bed and ran both my hands through my hair, ruining the careful style I had spent so long fixing.It had always been like that.Whenever we played hide-and-seek as kids, I was always appointed as the seeker.Ann and Jeff would hide together, hand in hand, inside the bright, spacious walk-in closet in my parents' bedroom, while I was left alone in the dark attic, counting.By the time I finished counting to a hundred and opened my eyes, I would search every room in the house but never find them.Later, I would find out they had already slipped downstairs without me to buy ice cream at the corner store.Growing up had not changed anything.I pulled open a drawer and took out an old photo album, its pages yellowed with age.In the first few photos, I was not even two years old. Dad was holding me high in his arms, and Mom was kissing my cheek. Ann stood beside us, making funny faces to make me laugh.I remembered something a relative had said during New

The day before the graduation celebration, the living room was filled with gift boxes of every size.Jeff stood in front of the full-length mirror, wearing a custom-made white suit, and carefully straightened his bow tie. Mom stood behind him, gently smoothing the wrinkles from his jacket."Mom, where's my suit?" I walked over to the couch, where garment bags were piled everywhere.Without even turning around, Mom kept adjusting Jeff's cuffs and answered casually, "You've never liked being the center of attention, anyway. Tomorrow, just sit with everyone else and enjoy the food. It doesn't matter what you wear."Ann walked out of her room with a dismissive snort. "Everyone's coming to celebrate Jeff tomorrow. You can wear whatever."She glanced at me. "That white T-shirt you're wearing is fine."I watched them fuss over Jeff, circling around him as if I were an audience member watching a play that had nothing to do with me."Okay." I smiled. "It's comfortable, anyway."Jeff tur

In the video, the reporter's question left the entire ballroom silent for a full three seconds.Mom hurriedly grabbed the reporter's sleeve, forcing an uneasy smile onto her face."There must be some mistake. This is my younger son, Jeff. He scored 1420."Henry is my older son. His grades have always been average. There's no way it could be him."The reporter's expression immediately darkened. Without another word, he turned the registration form around for them to see."These results have already been verified by the State Testing Center."We came here today to interview Henry, one of the highest-scoring students in the state. Since that's clearly not who you are, we'll be leaving."The camera was switched off abruptly. The reporter and his crew turned around and walked away without looking back.The ballroom exploded."So, the older brother was actually the one who made the state's top ten? Then why are they throwing a celebration for their younger son, who only scored 1420?

The moment I finished speaking, the back doors of the auditorium slammed open.Mom, Ann, Jeff, and Whitney burst inside, pushing past the student volunteers at the entrance and rushing straight toward the stage."Henry! We finally found you!"Mom's eyes were red from crying. She grabbed the edge of the podium and sobbed into the microphone in front of me."You were one of the top students in the state! Do you know how hard your father and I worked to raise you and help you become such an outstanding student?"You've been angry long enough. Come home with us."The entire auditorium fell silent. Thousands of students and faculty members turned to watch. I looked at the tears on their faces, took one step back, and faced the microphone."You missed me?" My voice echoed clearly through the hall. "If you cared about me that much, then why did you throw a huge party for Jeff to celebrate his graduation, yet refuse to buy me even a single suit?"I left the family group chat and blocke