Chapter 3

Mom saw me approach and shoved Biscuit's leash into my hand.

"You're not doing anything, Elise. Go walk Biscuit."

Her tone was a command, not a request.

I happened to need some air anyway.

I had barely taken two steps when I heard Mom praising Chloe to our relatives with a smile.

"Chloe didn't perform her best this time, but her school is actually very good."

"Her major is better, too. Once she graduates, she'll get into a big company. Her prospects are much better than her sister's."

"Chloe has been lucky since she was little. Everything will go smoothly for her her entire life."

A wave of emotion rose in my throat.

So this was what it meant to be the favored child. Even if she were a pile of shit, her parents would still act like she was perfect.

As I passed the backyard, I heard Dad chatting with several men.

He spoke like a man dispensing hard-earned wisdom.

"Raising a daughter is an investment, especially once she starts college."

"When Chloe goes to college, her mother and I are giving her a $2,000 monthly allowance."

"She needs enough money in her pocket, or some frat boy will buy her one meal and take advantage of her."

My heart felt as though it had split open.

I'd had only $300 a month to live on in college.

Without a work-study job, I would've starved until I was skin and bones.

I remembered the day Mom pushed that $300 into my hand. Her tears had fallen onto the crumpled bills, one after another.

She held my hand and said, "Elise, this is all our family can afford. We truly don't have anything else to give you."

"Chloe is about to start her senior year, and her SAT score is terrible. I'm afraid she won't get into a decent college without tutoring."

"If she doesn't go to college, her whole life will be ruined."

"You've always been the understanding one. You'll understand your dad and me, won't you?"

Back then, I truly had understood them.

I'd watched Mom hire a private SAT tutor for Chloe at $150 an hour to raise her score.

At the time, Chloe took four sessions a day.

One day of her tutoring cost more than my entire monthly food budget.

But because she was my own sister, and because Mom had said our family was struggling, I'd accepted $300 a month without a single complaint.

During those four years, neither Mom nor Dad ever asked whether I had enough money or enough food.

My one stroke of luck was that My grades had earned me a full-tuition scholarship from an outside foundation, so my tuition was completely covered.

If the school hadn't waived my tuition, I didn't dare imagine whether I could have finished college at all.

Dad kept talking happily, never noticing me as I passed.

Or perhaps he simply didn't care how I felt.

...

By the time the party began, I'd tied Biscuit to a tree outside the yard.

When I returned to the tables, every seat was taken and half the food was already gone.

No one had told me they were starting. There wasn't even a place for me.

As members of the host family, we were supposed to sit down last.

If there was no place for me at the table, I wasn't going to eat that day.

Mom looked completely unaware.

"Elise, you haven't eaten? I thought you already had."

"Honestly, all you do is run off to avoid helping and play on your phone."

"You were so busy playing that you even forgot to eat!"

A cold laugh stirred inside me.

She could always turn her lack of concern for me into something that was my fault.

An aunt beside us smiled and offered, "I'll get another folding chair from the garage and make room for Elise."

Mom waved her off.

"No, no, don't bother. Everyone's already seated. Another chair will only make it cramped."

She grabbed a paper plate and scraped together a little mac and cheese, a few charred pieces of pulled pork, and a spoonful of leftover coleslaw from the nearly empty serving dishes.

Then she handed the plate to me.

"Take it outside and eat."

It was as if she were handing scraps to a homeless person.