Home / Where I No Longer Belonged / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Where I No Longer Belonged: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

After Mrs. Foster left, they were still huddled around the dining table with a tape measure.Damon William’s cousin, Sloane Brooks, held out the tape measure, grinning from ear to ear. "Let's upgrade to a six-foot table. That way, all four of us will have plenty of room to spread out, and there’ll be enough space for a pot in the middle."The living room went quiet for a moment.Jessica Reed was the first to break into a laugh. "Your math is amazing. Since when is a six-foot table roomy for five people?"Sloane acted like she had just remembered I was standing there, frantically waving her hands. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant the four of you... I mean, the five of us."The more she tried to explain, the redder her face got.My boyfriend, Asher Anderson, pulled the tape measure out of her grip, his tone casual. "Vivian works late shifts anyway, and she’s never guaranteed to make it back by Sunday dinner. A six-foot table is big enough."Damon nodded along. "If we’re e

Chapter 2

The next day, when I got back from work, two cardboard boxes were piled right outside my room door.They were packed with all my stuff.A few lesson plans, a desk lamp, and the plush teddy bear Asher had given me last year.One of the bear's ears was sticking out of the box, covered in dust.I stood in the hallway and stared at it for a few seconds.Jessica poked her head out of the kitchen."Vivian, you're finally back."We were clearing some space for Sloane and realized the storage closet wasn't big enough, so we just moved your loose things out first."Sloane hurried over, looking apologetic."Vivian, I didn't want them to touch your stuff, but Asher said you didn't have much anyway, and it makes no difference whether it’s kept inside the room or outside."Asher walked out carrying a plate of food, a frown pulling at his brows."What do you mean, touching your stuff? We all live in this apartment together, so obviously whoever needs the space more gets to use it first."

Chapter 3

On Wednesday night, Mrs. Foster stopped by with the new lease. She pulled out five pens and motioned for us to sign.Sloane kept her hands in her lap. "Wait, I'm just crashing here temporarily. Do I really need to put my name down?"Asher slid the lease right across the table toward her."What do you mean, temporarily? You've been here long enough. You're family now."Mrs. Foster flipped to the page. "What about Miss Rhodes? Is she definitely not renewing her lease?"The dining room went completely dead silent.Asher whipped his head around to look at me. "What do you mean, not renewing?"I slid my copy of the paperwork back toward his side of the table. "Exactly what it sounds like.""Where are you even planning to move?""The staff dorms at work."Asher stared at me like he was finally putting the pieces together, realizing why I had been packing up my room all week.Then his face darkened."Is this really because I didn't wait for you on Sunday?"Vivian, are you serious

Chapter 4

At eight o'clock on Sunday morning, the movers knocked on the door right on time.The guy glanced at the three cardboard boxes by my feet, then looked around the empty room."Is that everything?""Yeah, that's it."After three years of living here, when it was finally time to leave, all I had to show for it was three boxes.Asher and the others had headed out bright and early.Damon took Sloane down to her office to pick up her official full-time paperwork, Jessica went to grab the cake, and Asher handled the driving.Before walking out the door, Asher even pushed my room door open to give me instructions."The beef is in the fridge; make sure you prepare it by noon."Sloane’s throat has been bothering her, so go easy on the seasoning."I was busy sorting through my desk drawers and didn't turn around."Got it."Asher seemed pretty satisfied with my cooperative attitude."That's what I'm talking about. Family doesn't stay mad at each other for long."As he pulled the door

Chapter 5

As the moving truck merged onto the highway overpass, I realized the thermos Asher had taken still had a tracking device attached to it. The red dot was creeping steadily toward the west side of town.He was probably shoving the thermos into Sloane's hands right now, reminding her to stay hydrated.I tapped the app and hit unpair.The red dot flickered twice and vanished from the screen.Just like that, the past three years were switched off right along with it.The new South Center was even more of a disaster than the pictures showed.Unopened boxes blocked the front desk, the classroom schedule on the wall was frozen from two weeks ago, and a couple of angry parents were cornering Isabelle to demand tuition refunds.A woman in a gray jacket locked eyes with me the second I walked in."Are you the new director?"You're so young, what could you possibly handle?"Isabelle opened her mouth to jump in, but I stepped up and took the complaint form straight from her hand."Mrs.

Chapter 6

When Asher caught sight of me, he marched straight over."Why is your number disconnected?"I called you over twenty times."His tone was sharp and accusatory.You would have thought he was the one who had disappeared, and that he was the one left stranded.I swiped my ID badge to unlock the security glass door."Say what you need to say. I've got a meeting at nine."Asher slammed his hand flat against the glass door."Come back with me."Seriously, you threw your tantrum, you packed up and moved out. Can we drop it now?"We waited up until midnight for you last night."I stared right at him."So?""What do you mean, so?"His eyebrows drew together in a hard scowl."Weren't you mad that we didn't wait up for you to eat?"We waited. We even saved the roast beef for you."For a second, I almost thought I was losing my mind."Asher, do you genuinely think I moved out just to force you guys to skip a meal?""Wasn't that it?"His voice dropped lower, defensive."Vivian,

Chapter 7

Asher didn't even make it until evening.By four o'clock in the afternoon, Jessica showed up first.She didn't come inside the office, just stood waiting at the far end of the hallway.She was carrying a bag of burgers."From that burger truck across town."She held the bag out toward me."Your favorite."I didn't reach for them.Jessica's fingers froze for a second."I used to remember. Then Sloane kept saying she loved them, and I guess I mixed it up."Vivian, I'm sorry."I looked right at her."You didn't mix it up."You just figured I wouldn't make a fuss, so whether you remembered or not didn't matter."Jessica kept her head down. It took her forever to squeeze out a single sentence."The house is a complete wreck."I stayed silent.She managed a bitter little laugh."Nobody touched that dinner last night."Asher smashed the cake, and Damon yelled at him for being too harsh."Sloane wouldn't stop crying, kept swearing she was going to move out."Nobody clear

Chapter 8

I didn't meet Sloane alone.Saturday was the center open house.Parents whose issues had piled up for half a month all showed up at once, packing the classrooms wall-to-wall.I was running around until late afternoon when Leo suddenly burst into the office, brandishing a hundred-percent test score evaluation sheet."Miss Rhodes, my mom said if I scored over ninety, we wouldn't have to pull out of the tutoring program."He slammed the paper right down onto my desk."I got a hundred."Mrs. Parker trailed right behind him, though she still sounded sharp."Just one good grade, don't get cocky."Yet the second she turned toward Isabelle, she changed her tune."Put him down for next semester too."Other parents caught wind of it and hurried over to hand in their renewal forms.Once the finance desk finished tallying everything up, the clerk flashed me a thumbs-up.The refund rate had dropped from forty percent down to three.Isabelle announced in front of everyone that I was of

Chapter 9

The moment Sloane's words dropped, Damon's expression shifted first."What did you just say?"Sloane clutched the mug so tight her knuckles turned completely white."When I first moved in, I was jealous of Vivian."Asher knew her work schedule, Jessica always left a light on for her, and Damon acted annoyed by her, but he'd still go pick her up when it rained."I wanted someone to treat me like that too."Asher cut her off."So, you purposely pushed her out?""I didn't mean to drive her away."Sloane's voice trembled."I just wanted to test the waters."I said my stomach hurt, and you guys stopped waiting for her."I said I needed space for my art board, and you moved her stuff out."I pointed out there were only four mugs, and nobody asked me to change it."Every single time, you guys picked me."So, why would I stop?"Nobody could find a response.Sloane looked over at me."Vivian, I know I'm not innocent. "I loved the feeling of being chosen first."But I honest

Chapter 10

Six months later, the South Center expanded.Isabelle was promoted to headquarters, and I took over her old position.On the day of our management meeting, HR asked if I had any input on the terms.I flipped through the contract."Does the pay go up?"Isabelle laughed over the video call."Tsk, look at you, straight to the money."Thirty percent raise, and we're upgrading your dorm to a two-bedroom apartment. Satisfied?""Alright, I guess that'll do."The conference room erupted into laughter.I laughed right along with them.I always took care of people. When a teacher fell ill, I stepped in to cover their classes.When a kid's parents ran late for pickup, I stayed until the very end.I no longer hide how hard I work.Whoever swapped shifts got it written down clearly on the schedule.Whoever had forgotten to hand in their paperwork stayed behind to fix it themselves.Kindness had a place. Being taken for granted did not.On Sunday, the former director of our group

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP