The Summer I Left
Over summer break, right after graduation, my parents, Stuart and Rachel Powell, decided the whole family would take a road trip together.
But the moment I hauled my suitcase up to the car door, Mom's hand shot out to stop me.
"There's no room. Maybe you should just sit this one out."
She glanced back at the seat behind her.
"Aiden doesn't want you along, either. He's not feeling well right now, so give way to him."
My knuckles went white on the suitcase handle, and my throat turning bitter.
Aiden was the biological son they'd lost years ago and only just found again.
Ever since he came back, everything that used to be mine had gone to him.
Slowly, I'd been pushed to the margins of t