All Chapters of Ten Marks on the Wall: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Like always, I took the bus home.The driver recognized me and looked surprised. "Kid, you just finished your finals. Nobody came to pick you up?"I smiled and shook my head before taking a seat by the window.A message from Mom popped up on my phone.She said Rosie had done really well and the whole family was going out to Bellamy's that night to celebrate.I stared at the words "whole family" for a long moment before replying:[I'll be home in fifteen minutes.]The typing bubble appeared, disappeared, then appeared again.Eventually, Mom sent:[Maybe you shouldn't come tonight. When it's your turn to take the placement exam, I'll take you out separately.]I looked down at the exam ID card in my hand.I was still wondering whether I should tell her that I'd taken the exam this year too when another message came in, this time from Grant.[Vivi, you're old enough to understand things now, right?][Before you turned seven, you were sick all the time. Everyone in this family

In the end, I was too afraid to find out.I had no money, so I took five hundred dollars that had been left on the entryway table.It was Rosie's weekly allowance.Mine was twenty dollars, just enough to cover the bus to and from school.I told myself I'd explain when I got home. I would treat it as a loan and pay Rosie back.By the time the IV was finished, it was already midnight.I carefully slid my key into the front door.It wouldn't turn."Mom! Dad!"I knocked harder, panic rising in my chest.The door across the hall opened instead.Ethan stood there in pajamas, leaning against the frame. There was something almost mocking in his eyes."Vivi, Grant told me you'd do anything to get your parents' attention. I didn't believe him before."Now I do."I shook my head frantically. I was about to tell him the reaction had been real when our front door finally opened.The living room lights were blazing.Rosie sat on the couch crying.Mom and Dad glared at me, while Gran

"Who are you looking for?"Mom and Dad exchanged confused looks.Even if Rosie had performed better than expected, there was no way she'd ranked first in the state. Certainly not well enough for a news crew to show up at our home.The reporter smiled."You haven't checked the results yet?"Your family has the highest-scoring student in the entire state!"Rosie rushed over so fast she nearly tripped.Her lips trembled with excitement."No way. Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"Then her eyes lit up."Oh! I know. You must be here for Ethan, right?"She ran across the hall and pounded on his door."Ethan! There's a news crew here to interview you!"Her shouting brought Ethan out - and half the floor with him.Within minutes, word had spread through the whole building that someone in 4B had come out on top of the state.Ethan opened the door, clearly startled."Interview me?"That can't be right. The scores came out this morning. I did okay, but not that well."He l

Once it was confirmed that I was the student the news crew had come to interview, Mom bit her lip and said irritably, "That girl. She took the exam this year and didn't tell us, and now she's made the whole family look ridiculous."Rosie had gone from soaring excitement to humiliation in minutes. She clung to Grant and cried."Mom, Vivi did this on purpose!""Whether she did or not can wait," Grandma snapped. "Vivi ranked first in the state. That's good news."Then she turned on Mom."And you. Have you never attended one of Vivi's parent-teacher conferences?"How can a mother not even know what grade her own daughter is in?"Mom had nothing to say.Only then did everyone seem to remember how annoyed they had always looked whenever I tried to talk about school.Eventually, I'd simply stopped.When a teacher asked for a parent at a conference, I said mine were busy.When a form needed a signature, I copied Mom's or Dad's handwriting and signed it myself.No teacher ever suspe

I had no idea what was happening back home.All I knew was that the moment my plane landed in Boston, my phone lit up with missed calls.I ignored them.With my backpack over one shoulder, I headed toward campus."Vivian, thank you for choosing Northbridge," Dr. Marsh said when she met me. "We're going to make sure you have every opportunity to succeed here."I hadn't expected the dean of admissions to come in person, and I could feel my face warming."Thank you for making an exception and letting me start early."She smiled. "That was the easy part."She walked me over to the residence hall herself.After learning about my circumstances, the school had arranged a private room for me.She even took me to lunch.The scholarship money landed in my account that afternoon.With it, I bought the basic things I needed to live on my own.For the first time in years, I lay down on a freshly made bed that was completely mine.My whole body finally relaxed.I slept better than I h