I put away the diaries.
I thought about how graduation was right
around the corner and I’d be able to leave soon,
so I shouldn’t hold a grudge.
But then as I left my room, Brittany was smiling right outside my door.
8:13
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“Ashley Van Derlyn, it’s amazing how you can act like you’re kidnapped.”
“Stop pretending. You’re not faking amnesia.
Why else would you make that disgusted look with the fish?”
“What I hate most is your face. You treated me poorly because I came from the country. You acted like you were better because you were rich.”
“Why couldn’t you have died out there with the kidnappers? If you had, Mom and Dad would have me as their only daughter.”
I guess I was naive before the kidnapping.
How else could I let some hick control me?
As I pushed Brittany out of the way, the doorbell rang.
HILOS
8:13
<
How else could I let some hick control me?
As I pushed Brittany out of the way, the
doorbell rang.
She smirked. “Looks like your boyfriend is here.”
884
“Of course, it could also be that your injuries scared him off.”
“Ashley Van Derlyn, you can’t always be lucky.
One day your parents and boyfriend will come to my side.”
She was so loud.
I couldn’t hold in my anger anymore.
I kicked Brittany down the stairs.
<
Chapter 2
- 7.
Brittany ate pavement, face–first.
A huge lump swelled on her forehead.
She started sobbing, hoping to milk some
sympathy from my parents.
And Dad? Like clockwork, he roared, “Ashley,
what are you up to now? Trying to ruin.
Brittany’s dance career?”
Seeing him jump to conclusions, always
accusing me first, I felt nothing.
My diary mentioned how Brittany had won tons
of ballet awards, making Mom and Dad proud.
Especially Dad.
His old war buddies knew he’d taken in his
8:14
wwww
884
friend’s daughter and turned her into a star, and they all praised him for being a stand–up guy.
As for Mom?
She thought I didn’t inherit her looks, and my grades weren’t good enough to show off, so
she focused all her attention on her perfect
adopted daughter.
The socialites would say that Carol was the
kindest person, treating her adopted daughter
better than her own.
People are weird sometimes.
Once they get put on a pedestal, they just have
to play the savior, even if it means sacrificing
their own kids.
When I was younger, I didn’t get it. I cried, I
threw tantrums.
But Brittany? She was a master manipulator.
After seeing how my parents acted, she played
the victim perfectly.
If she had diarrhea, she’d whisper how she saw
me put something in her milk.
If she messed up a recital, she’d say I
deliberately made noise the night before so she
couldn’t sleep.
If she tripped on the sidewalk, I probably paid
someone to move her foot.
The funny thing was, Dad bought it all, and
Mom just watched it happen.
In the past, their favoritism had hurt me a lot.
But now? I’d already died once. I didn’t care.
I just shrugged. “Yeah, I pushed her. So?”
Seeing I wasn’t backing down, Dad raised his
hand to hit me.
I didn’t want to get hit and stepped back, still hurting from my injuries and the pain I was already feeling.
Whether out of guilt, or because she was hurt by my coldness, Mom actually said something
human.
“Honey, Ashley’s leg is still hurt. She couldn’t
have pushed someone that hard, right?”
Brittany panicked. “Yes, she did. Ashley did it!”
Mom looked at me, then back at Brittany, and said, “Well, Brittany, why did Ashley push you?”
“She’s mad about what happened the night you watched my recital. She thinks you like me
more than her, so…”
Before she could finish, I cut her off.
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“Hey, don’t forget I have amnesia. Your aunt
and uncle are strangers to me. Why would I be jealous?”
Mom started to cry. “Honey, please don’t talk
like that. It hurts.”
Who cares?
I rolled my eyes. “You guys never believe me anyway. You even thought I was lying when the kidnappers threatened to kill me.”
“Now I’m admitting I pushed her. Happy now?”
Mom clutched her chest, looking heartbroken. Dad roared, “Ashley, even if you didn’t push
Brittany down the stairs, you can’t talk to your mother like that!”
I almost laughed.
Did my parents only like to hear people lie?
