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Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Summer I Left: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 8

8 Kabanata

Chapter 1

By the time my family got back from the trip, half a month had passed.Nobody had told me when they'd be home.The moment Aiden walked through the door, he saw my face without a mask.He let out a scream and hurled the water in his cup straight at me.Water dripped from my hair onto the floor.Mom and Dad scrambled to check on him."Are you okay, Aiden? Did he scare you?"Dad jabbed a finger against my forehead, yelling at me."Haven't I told you? You have to wear a mask around Aiden. Why can't you just listen?"I lowered my head and pulled the soaked mask out of my pocket, putting it back on.Whatever explanation I had stayed stuck in my throat.It wasn't until dinner that things settled down.They ate at the table. I sat in the kitchen.There was a small table in there, and it had been my spot ever since Aiden came home.Mom pushed open the kitchen door.She was carrying a plate of leftovers, and when she saw me sitting on the floor eating, she let out a sigh.She dro

Chapter 2

When I got there, I saw photos scattered and torn across the floor.They were pictures of me with Mom and Dad, and years of photos with Joy.Slap!There was a sharp crack, and my cheek exploded with pain.Aiden was having another episode, screaming at me in a frenzy."Did you do this on purpose? Put this stuff in my room? You're a parasite! Living off my family!"Aiden kept screaming while Mom and Dad wrapped him in a heartbroken embrace.Mom's eyes went red, and she whipped around to glare at me."Zac, you're not our real son, but I still raised you for eighteen years."Is this how you treat my real son? You're nothing but an ungrateful brat."A ringing filled my ears.I hung my head.Joy was crouched beside Aiden, carefully removing the shards of glass embedded in his palm.I was still the one standing outside all of it.Those photos, I never had the chance to take back. They'd thrown me out before I could. Ever since Aiden came into this family, I'd been banned from se

Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up to a basin of cold water dumped over my head.Before I could even process it, Joy grabbed my arm."Zac, don't push your luck! You know Aiden's sick, and you still hid his things. Where did you put them?"I sat there stunned on the bed, cold water running down my collar, and shivered from the chill.Then I saw Aiden standing behind her.Everything clicked into place."I didn't take anything of his. I've been in my own room this whole time."Joy's brow furrowed, and she didn't even listen to my explanation.She threw all my things out onto the floor.Even the gifts she'd once given me, she smashed with her own hands.The noise was loud enough that it drew Mom and Dad over."What's going on?"Aiden hid behind Joy, gripping the hem of her shirt, head down, saying nothing.Joy's eyes went bloodshot with fury. She jabbed a finger at my face and tore into me."Zac stole Aiden's things. I got here this morning and Aiden kept pulling at my sleeve, telli

Chapter 4

They gave me one day to pack.That same day, I received my college acceptance.I had the house to myself. Mom and Dad had left early that morning to take Aiden to see a psychiatrist.I was getting ready to leave when my phone lit up with a string of notifications, one charge alert after another.I froze for a second, then pulled up my account and saw the balance had dropped to just three digits.Every charge traced back to the hospital Aiden kept visiting.Blood rushed to my head, and a roar filled my ears.That money was everything I'd earned ever bit from working part-time jobs. I'd been saving it for tuition.I tore through my closet and realized the bank card I'd kept there was gone.I called Mom right away. The line rang over and over with no answer.I stopped caring about anything else and rushed straight to the hospital.Sure enough, I found Mom, Dad, and Joy in the psych ward.They froze when they saw how out of breath I was, and guilt flashed across their faces a s

Chapter 5

Stuart, Rachel, and Joy had every ounce of their attention fixed on Aiden.None of them noticed that Zac had already gone.This time, the most respected psychiatrist in the city had come to see Aiden, asked him several questions.When the doctor finally stepped out, his expression was grim.Something twisted in the Powells' stomachs."What's wrong, Doctor? Is our son not doing well?"The specialist's eyes held a strange look."Does your son actually have depression?"Stuart froze for a second, then turned to look at his wife.Rachel nodded firmly and pulled a stack of medical records out of her bag."Look, these are his old records. We've taken him in for checkups plenty of times."Stuart added quickly, "Yes, is there some kind of problem?"The specialist glanced over the records, then spoke."I can't say whether he actually ill before. But today's evaluation shows nothing. Maybe he recovered on his own a long time ago, and you two just never knew.""That's not possible!"

Chapter 6

The second hospital cost them another small fortune, and another whole day.They spent the entire day getting put through the wringer.And once again, they got the exact same result.When the doctor slid the diagnosis across the desk to the Powells, their faces went dark in an instant.Knowing they wouldn't believe it, the doctor explained patiently."Your son is fine. Completely healthy, physically and mentally. The test results can't be faked."I've been practicing for thirty years. Lying to you would only ruin my own reputation."Rachel's hand shook as she held the report."That's impossible. What about all the treatment we've been doing..."The doctor's expression turned odd."Some doctors out there aren't exactly ethical."A kid wants to get out of school, or just wants attention, so he fakes depression, fakes autism."But the data doesn't lie. Fake is fake. People just don't always say it out loud."The doctor's words left the Powells speechless.Joy was the first o

Chapter 7

The moment Joy left the Powells' house, she headed straight for school.She still had no idea which university Zac had chosen.Asking a teacher was her only option.The second she arrived on campus, she caught snatches of conversation around her."Wait, what? Joy Harris is actually repeating the year? She didn't even fill out her applications?""That's not even the surprising part. Want to hear something even more shocking? Guess which school Zac Powell picked."At the mention of Zac's name, Joy drifted closer.She still had no idea where he'd applied. He'd even left the class group chat, and it seemed like nobody knew where he'd gone."Has to be Huntington University. He and Joy had it all planned out, going there together."The boy shook his head. "Nope. Guess again."The group kept guessing, but none of them got it right.Finally, the boy spoke up like he was delivering the juiciest gossip of the year."Zac went to Quintiq University.""That's not possible!"The sudden

Chapter 8

After I left the Powells' house, I made my way to Quintiq City on my own.With no money to my name, I took on several jobs one after another.Once my former homeroom teacher, Ms. Steele, found out how things stood, she lent me fourteen hundred dollars."Living costs are high in Quintiq City. Use this to get by for now. Although I still can't figure out why you chose Quintiq University."Faced with her question, I told her the truth."Artificial intelligence. That's what I actually wanted to study all along."Joy had always been the one who loved aerospace engineering.She'd wanted to go to Huntington, so I'd decided I wanted to go there too.Now she'd chosen to repeat the year. She'd chosen Aiden instead.And I'd chosen to let her go.Ms. Steele didn't push for more details. She just respected my decision.Over the next month, I worked three different jobs.My grades were good enough that plenty of people were willing to hire me as a tutor.One day, someone messaged me abo

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