- 3.
Dad did everything wrong.
Petty theft, disappearing for weeks at a time.
Everyone thought he was a waste of space.
I thought if he was good to me, he wasn’t that
bad.
I thought he had his reasons.
Mom and Ethan hated me more because I
was close to Dad.
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I always got A’s in school, but Mom still
looked down on me.
“What good is it? You act like your dad, so
trashy. Be more like Mia, so polite.”
I bought a pink dress with my savings, and
Ethan laughed at me.
“You’re nothing like Mia. You’re a joke.
so ugly!”
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Mom made the extra walk to support Mia
during PTA.
Ethan always held Mia’s hand.
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I thought I had nothing, but Dad showed up to
a parent–teacher meeting.
He had messy yellow hair and a runny nose.
He handed the fifty–year–old teacher a
cigarette.
“You watch out for my daughter. I’ll watch out
for your family.”
The teacher’s face twitched, and my
classmate’s mouth dropped.
“Is that your dad? He’s cool!”
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I buried my head in my desk.
“Step–dad.”
Later, Mia transferred to my school.
She trapped me in the bathroom with older
girls.
“This is the bitch. Teach her a lesson!”
They slapped me with shoes and made me
wash my hair with toilet water.
It was snowing, and I was trapped the whole
period, and my throat hurt.
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period, and my throat hurt.
The first thing I did was run to Mia’s class
and grab her hair.
I couldn’t beat the group, but I could beat her.
When Mom got called to the school, I thought
she’d comfort me.
Instead, Mia stood on the roof, crying about
my bullying and wanting to find her real
parents.
I wasn’t as smart as her.
Mom slapped me, hard, and I fell into the
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snow.
“You can’t stand Mia at home, and you act
like a bully at school. You’re just like your
dad.”
Ethan went to Mia carefully.
“Come down. I’ll always protect you.”
That was supposed to be me.
Mia smiled mockingly at me before hugging
Ethan.
“Wahhh!”
<
I cried.
The red on my face was hidden by the snow,
and I became a joke.
Mia was loved, and I was an orphan with
parents.
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