Chapter 3

3 The next day, we had to start ROTC.

At four in the morning.

Mom forced me into a uniform and dragged me to the field.

She wanted to impress the teachers.

I was exhausted, and the sun was blinding.

I almost fell.

Suddenly, ice water poured over me.

Mom stood there with an umbrella, smiling. "Don’t be lazy! Everyone else is trying, what makes you special?"

I was embarrassed and annoyed.

The water, sweat, and tears blurred my vision.

Everyone sneered at me.

No one cared that I'd been standing here for four hours.

During a break.

The instructor told us to do something interesting to break the ice.

Mom sat with us, poking me.

I'd always been embarrassed about my hair.

I kept my head down.

She grew impatient.

After a good dance performance from a classmate.

She pushed me into the crowd, I clutched my uniform.

The vibe died down.

Mom rolled her eyes, walking over to me.

"What a waste! You can't even do this? You'll never succeed. So embarrassing."

Mom's terrible singing attracted everyone's attention.

They laughed.

They pointed.

They looked disgusted.

I wanted to escape.

But I couldn’t move.

I squatted on the ground, crying.

After that, everyone knew me.

The ROTC student, Chelsea, who was a spoiled brat.

The school forum was flooded with memes about me crying.

Mom collected all of them.

She sent them to the family group chat, her friend groups, and even the community group chat.

She even did a raffle on her social media.

She wouldn't stop until the whole world saw my shame.

I begged her to stop posting the photos.

Mom shrugged.

"You think you can threaten me? If you die, I’ll stop. Are you really gonna die? If you jump off a building, I’ll stop. Will you jump?"