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First in the State, Yet the Last One They Asked About
Novelix
Completed
Wren grows up on her grandparents' farm while her parents raise her brother and sister in the city, claiming they can't afford three children. When she earns a perfect 1600 SAT score and travels home to share the news, she discovers the truth: her siblings always lived with their parents, and family vacations never included her. After her parents refuse to help with college unless she stays and cares for her sister, Wren leaves for Northbridge alone on a full scholarship. A story about being overlooked, learning self-worth, and refusing to earn love through achievement.
Chapters (3)
第1章
Mom and Dad always said living in the city was expensive. They couldn't afford to raise three kids there.
So my older brother, Brandon, went to boarding school, while my younger sister, Stella, lived with our aunt Marla.
And since I'd always been close to Grandpa and Grandma, leaving me on their farm was supposedly the easiest solution.
I believed them.
After college application season ended, Northbridge asked me to submit my birth certificate, a copy of my Social Security card, and a guardian's signature for enrollment and financial aid verification.
I called Mom.
"Just wait. I'll make copies and mail them to you. There's no need to come all the way here."
But I'd scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT.
I wanted to tell them in person that I'd made it out, too.
So I spent twenty-four hours on a Greyhound, transferring twice before finally reaching my parents' house.
Stella opened the door.
She wore a navy blazer from a private school. Behind her stood a piano and an entire closet packed with ballet dresses.
She froze when she saw me, then turned around and shouted, "Mom! Someone's here for you!"
Brandon poked his head out of a bedroom with "BRANDON'S ROOM" plastered across the door. A game controller was still in his hand.
"Dad, I got my new computer set up! Come check it out!"
The second Dad saw me, the smile disappeared from his face.
"What are you doing here?"
"I need my documents."
He pointed toward the study.
"Find them yourself."
I opened a drawer and pulled out a folder labeled CALLAHAN FAMILY—IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS.
Dad's birth certificate and Social Security card were first.
Then Mom's.
Then Brandon's.
Then Stella's.
Mine wasn't there.
Dad noticed where I'd stopped.
"Your documents have always been with Grandpa. Your birth certificate, Social Security card, medical consent forms—they're all registered to the farm address."
His tone was completely matter-of-fact.
"Your brother needed to go to school in the city, and your sister was little. We had to prioritize."
I looked at him.
"So all those years you told me Brandon was at boarding school and Stella lived with Aunt Marla... you were lying?"
Mom's face went pale.
"We weren't lying. We just didn't want you overthinking things."
I closed the folder and pulled out my enrollment form.
Dad's name was already written under Guardian.
I crossed it out.
Then I wrote Grandpa's name instead.
"You don't have to hide it from me anymore."
"I know I don't belong in this family."
...
Dad didn't say anything after I crossed out his name. He simply put the folder back in the drawer.
"Have Grandpa mail you the copies."
"Handle your own college stuff. Don't let it interfere with your brother and sister."
I put away the form.
And the screenshot of my perfect SAT score I'd planned to show them.
At dinner that night, Mom still set only four places.
She picked every piece of onion out of Brandon's food, then warmed a glass of oat milk especially for Stella.
"Regular milk upsets Stella's stomach. We can't mix them up."
When it came to me, she stood in front of the refrigerator for a long time.
"Do you eat strawberries?"
I stared at her.
"I've been allergic to strawberries since I was little."
Her expression stiffened.
"Really?"
"It's been so long. Mom must've gotten mixed up."
I'd been six when I stopped living with them.
Now I was eighteen.
And everything they knew about me was still frozen at six years old.
Over dinner, Dad walked Brandon through everything from interview questions to what he should wear. He even promised to buy him a new monitor.
Mom repeatedly checked Stella's ballet dress, hair clips, and allergy medication for Family Day at school.
When it was finally my turn, Dad asked only one thing.
"When are you going back?"
My hand paused.
"My college paperwork isn't finished yet. I need to stay a few days."
Mom instinctively glanced at Brandon and Stella.
Only after dinner did I realize there wasn't a place for me in the house.
Brandon needed quiet.
Stella didn't want to share a room with a "stranger."
And my parents had no intention of giving up their own bedroom.
In the end, Mom booked me a motel room outside the neighborhood.
She shoved the key card into my hand.
"It's only for a few days anyway."
"Don't disrupt their lives."
I dragged my suitcase away.
Just as I reached the motel, Mom called.
Brandon's interview had suddenly required both parents to attend, and Stella had Family Day at school the next morning.
Mom wanted me to take her place with Stella.
Standing outside the motel, I asked, "Stella doesn't even know who I am. You're comfortable leaving her with me?"
Mom answered as if it were obvious.
"You're her biological sister."
"What's wrong with taking care of her once?"
The next morning, I took Stella to school using the address Mom had sent me.
Her teacher asked how we were related.
I had barely said I was her sister when Stella corrected me seriously.
"She's not my sister."
"Mom said she's a relative who lives out in the country."
There was no malice in her voice.
She was only repeating what our parents had taught her.
When it was time to introduce their families, Stella pulled out a family photo of four people.
She said Dad picked Brandon up every week.
Mom prepared her ballet clothes every day.
Brandon bought her snacks.
She never mentioned me.
In Stella's understanding of "family," no one had ever told her there was another daughter.
Mom rushed over after the event.
The first thing she said wasn't thank you.
It was, "You didn't tell the teachers anything you shouldn't have, did you?"
I looked at her.
"I'm Stella's sister. Is that something I'm not supposed to say?"
Mom frowned.
"She just found out you exist. She can't process it yet."
"You're already grown. Don't fight a child for her place in the family."
I'd been the one excluded from that family for years.
Yet somehow, I was still the one expected to be understanding.
When we got back, Dad was reviewing Brandon's interview with him.
I took out my college paperwork.
"Can you guys look this over for me?"
Dad didn't even reach for it.
"It's your school. Handle it yourself."
Then he sent me Stella's pickup and drop-off schedule for the next day.
"Since you're still here, help the family out for another day."
When they needed me to take responsibility, I was Stella's big sister.
When I needed them to take responsibility, I was suddenly the child Grandpa and Grandma had raised.
My college documents were due in three days.
I went back to the motel and called Grandpa, asking him to mail copies of my documents directly to my college counselor.
Then I locked the screenshot of my 1600 SAT score away on my phone again.
I'd wanted them to be the first people I told my best news to.
Now I wanted to see just one thing.
How long would it take before they finally asked about me on their own?
第2章
With two days left before the deadline, Mom asked me to come back to the house and help Stella find a video of one of her childhood ballet competitions.
Stella pulled out several family albums and eagerly showed them to me.
"This was when I was seven. Our whole family went to that beach house."
"This was Brandon's middle school graduation. Dad took us to a ranch in Montana."
"This was last Christmas."
Every picture had the same four people.
Mom.
Dad.
Brandon.
Stella.
It didn't take me long to notice that the dates matched the school breaks and holidays when I'd asked to visit and been turned down.
When I was nine, Dad said the factory wouldn't give him Christmas off.
But in the photo, Brandon was riding on his shoulders at a theme park while Mom held Stella's hand.
At twelve, I'd asked Mom to attend the awards ceremony for a statewide writing competition.
She said she couldn't get off the production line.
That same day, she'd sat in an auditorium recording every second of Stella's first piano recital.
The summer after my freshman year of high school, Dad told me Brandon was away at school, Stella lived with our aunt, and he and Mom worked opposite shifts.
There was supposedly no one home to stay with me.
But that summer, the four of them went to the beach.
In one video, Dad laughed into the camera.
"Our family's first time seeing the ocean!"
I stared at those words for a long time.
So they'd always had vacations.
They'd always had time for their children.
I just wasn't included when they said "our family."
Even Brandon looked surprised when he heard me.
"Mom and Dad always told us you didn't want to leave Grandpa and Grandma. They said you didn't want to come on our trips."
Stella nodded.
"Mom said you didn't want to come home."
I looked up at Mom.
"So you told me you couldn't afford three kids."
"And you told them I was the one who didn't want you?"
At first, Mom tried to explain.
"Things really were difficult financially in the beginning."
Then she changed her argument.
"Later, you'd already gotten used to life on the farm."
"Changing schools suddenly would've hurt your grades."
"What about after things got better?"
"You bought this house."
"Brandon and Stella got their own rooms. Why didn't you bring me back then?"
Her mouth opened.
No answer came out.
Dad stepped out of the study.
"What matters is the outcome."
"You grew up perfectly fine on the farm, didn't you?"
"Your grandparents had someone to keep them company, and we could focus on taking care of your brother and sister."
"The arrangement worked for everyone."
I looked at him.
"Did 'everyone' include me?"
His expression darkened.
"Why do you insist on digging up the past?"
"You were always the most mature one. That's why we trusted you enough to leave you there."
That was when I finally understood.
It wasn't that they didn't know I'd wanted my parents, too.
I simply hadn't screamed or cried.
Losing me had been the easiest option.
Stella pulled a new itinerary out from underneath the photo albums.
"Look, Wren."
"After my performance, Mom and Dad are taking me to the beach."
The flights, hotel rooms, and seats had already been booked.
Still for four people.
Brandon hesitated.
"Should we add another ticket?"
Dad rejected the idea without a second thought.
"She'll go back to the farm after she's done with her paperwork."
"Adding someone at the last minute will mess up all our plans."
Mom pushed Stella's suitcase toward me, along with some supplements she'd bought for Grandpa and Grandma.
"Help Stella pack. Don't forget her allergy medication or ballet shoes."
"And take these back with you. Don't tell Grandpa and Grandma we're going to the beach. Just say we're busy with work."
All these years, they hadn't just expected me to accept being left behind.
They expected me to help maintain the lie.
I didn't touch Stella's suitcase.
And I didn't agree to lie for them.
Dad immediately lost his temper.
"Ever since you came back, you've done nothing but upset this family."
I asked calmly, "If I've never been part of your family plans, why should I help you keep pretending we're one big happy family?"
That night, I called Grandpa.
"Grandpa, after I finish my paperwork... I'm not going back to Riverton."
He was quiet for a moment.
He didn't ask what had happened.
He only said, "Go wherever you want to go."
"Grandpa will always support you."
第3章
There was only one day left before my paperwork was due when my parents unexpectedly asked me home.
They said they wanted to seriously discuss the futures of all three children.
Dad had already planned out Brandon's tuition, housing, equipment, and vacations for his next academic program.
Mom brought out Stella's ballet schedule for the coming year.
She planned to cut back her hours at work and rent a small apartment near the dance school so Stella could rest between rehearsals.
They'd planned every detail for Brandon and Stella.
Then it was my turn.
Dad pushed several brochures from local colleges across the table.
"You'll stay in Riverton for college."
"You can live on campus during the week and come home on weekends."
"That way, you can tutor Stella and drive her to practice."
Mom joined in.
"If you stay, Stella will gradually get used to you. Then we'll tell her you're really her sister."
"Once Brandon moves out for school, we can figure out how to make some room for you here, too."
I stared at her.
"So whether I'm your daughter depends on whether I'm willing to stay and take care of Stella?"
Mom immediately denied it.
"We're trying to make it up to you."
But even their idea of compensation required me to pay the price first.
Dad told me to give him my application account and documents so he could choose a local school for me.
I refused.
His tone hardened.
"We already paid a huge deposit for your brother's program, and Stella can't stop her ballet lessons."
"We don't have money to send you somewhere far away."
"If you stay in Riverton, we'll cover the basics. If you insist on leaving, you're paying for everything yourself."
I asked, "Why are Brandon's and Stella's futures automatically your responsibility?"
"But when it's me, I have to prove I'm useful before I deserve anything?"
Dad's face darkened.
"Your brother needs to continue his education, and your sister is still young."
"They can't manage without us."
"You're different."
"How?"
His answer came without hesitation.
"You've always been able to take care of yourself."
At last, they'd found the perfect excuse for years of favoritism.
Because I could dress myself.
Feed myself.
Ride a bus.
Solve my own problems.
That apparently meant they never had to come back for me.
Mom still tried to persuade me.
"You're a young woman going that far away alone."
"What if something happens?"
I asked quietly, "When I got sick as a kid, when I had exams, when I stayed away from home for the first time..."
"Didn't you think having Grandpa and Grandma was enough then?"
She stopped talking.
Dad decided the reason I hadn't shown them my SAT score was because I'd done badly.
Right in front of me, he called Grandpa.
"If she'd actually done well, she would've told us already."
"She's making a fuss about going away because she wants us to back down first."
Grandpa asked only one question.
"Since she walked through your door, have any of you asked what she scored?"
Dad didn't answer.
He hung up and turned to me.
"If you insist on leaving, don't expect this family to bail you out."
"When things get hard, when you run out of money, when you get sick—don't come back and blame us."
Mom didn't defend me.
She kept organizing Stella's performance clothes.
I nodded.
"Okay."
Before I left, I looked at Mom one last time.
"My bus leaves at eight tomorrow morning."
"Can you take me to the station?"
She froze.
Then finally nodded.
"Okay."
"Mom will take you."
It was the first time since I'd arrived in Riverton that she'd agreed to do something alone with me.
That night, I finalized everything with Northbridge.
For my contacts, I listed only Grandpa and my college counselor.
I didn't tell Mom I wasn't going back to the farm.
And I didn't tell her this was the last chance I was giving her to keep a promise as my mother.
