Chapter 1

When the gas leak happened, Mom instinctively grabbed my screaming sister, Emma, first.

By the time the rescue crew pulled me out of the kitchen, the gas had already damaged my brain.

After that, my mind never developed past the age of five.

For the next thirteen years, Mom held me every night and promised through her tears that she'd never leave me again.

Even when Dad was away on business, he'd video-call me every night and help me count the little stars on my wall.

Then Emma got into Harvard.

Mom asked what she wanted to celebrate.

Emma's eyes filled with tears.

"I just want one graduation trip with the two of you," she whispered. "No taking care of anyone. Just once. Please?"

Mom and Dad looked at her red, swollen eyes and finally gave in.

Before they left, Mom sat me down on the little stool behind the door.

"Lily, be good. When we come back, Mommy will bring you your favorite strawberry cake."

I nodded. I sat by the door. I waited for them to come home.

But that same day, the neighborhood lost power during scheduled maintenance.

The apartment went dark.

Within three days, the fridge started to stink. Everything inside went bad.

I was so thirsty and hungry.

I called Mom and Dad for help.

But they thought I was lying.

They warned me that if I kept lying, they wouldn't want me anymore.

Eventually, I got severe food poisoning and died alone beside the stinking fridge.

When Mom and Dad finally came home from their trip and found my body, they broke down, consumed by regret.

……

The day Emma's acceptance letter arrives, her tears drip on to the back of her hand, one after another.

Her voice cracks with pleading.

"Mom, Dad… I want one graduation trip. Just the three of us. Three normal people, okay?"

The living room goes dead silent.

I'm sitting on the carpet.

I look up at her, a little lost.

"Emma, what's three normal people?"

"Is Lily normal too? Lily wants to go on a trip!"

I drop my Legos and reach for her hand.

Emma steps back. She yanks her hand away from me.

"You're NOT! You are NOT a normal person!"

She's screaming at me, eyes bloodshot.

"Do you have any idea what my last thirteen years have been like because of you?"

"Even when I got straight A's, all Mom and Dad ever cared about was whether YOU ate on time!"

I flinch as she yells.

"Emma, don't cry. You can have my Legos."

I hold them out, trying to please her.

"I don't want your stupid blocks!"

Emma smacks the blocks out of my hand.

The plastic pieces hit the wall and clatter to the floor.

Dad's face darkens.

He pulls Emma behind him.

"Emma. How can you talk to your sister like that?"

"If we hadn't saved you first back then, Lily's brain wouldn't have been damaged by the gas. How can you resent her?"

Mom pulls me into her arms.

"Lily, sweetie, don't be scared. Mommy's right here."

Then she turns to Emma, and there's a warning in her eyes.

"Emma, Lily can't be left alone. If we all go on a trip, who's going to take care of her?"

Emma sobs grow louder.

"It's just a few days! Just this once!"

"All your love has always gone to her!"

"What about me? I'm your daughter too. Don't I deserve to have my parents to myself, even once?"

Her shoulders shake violently.

"I'm leaving for college soon. I won't be home much after that."

"Is it really too much to ask for just one trip—no weird looks, no one to babysit every second?"