Chapter 3

3

Piper was the one who chased bullies across the track with a dirty mop when they harassed me.

When everyone else isolated me, she held my hand. She told me we were 'Cool Girls' who were actually isolating the rest of the class.

She was my best friend in the whole world.

But because my father was a veteran officer, no one questioned his word.

My disappearance was buried under his denial.

I watched Piper leave the station, looking absolutely crushed. I wanted to follow her, but I was tethered to my father.

I watched him process my skull. I followed him home.

On the dinner table sat grilled lobster tails, spicy crab legs, and garlic butter shrimp.

My mother remembered all of Logan's favorites. But she refused to remember that I was deathly allergic to shellfish.

Once, years ago, my father asked why I wasn't eating. I thought he was finally showing me love.

I gripped my fork, trembling. "Dad... I'm allergic to seafood..."

My mother slammed her silverware down. "What did I do to deserve such an ungrateful child? I spent all day in this kitchen and now I'm the villain?"

I looked at my father. He was my hero when I was little. He used to protect me when Mom got angry.

But this time, my hero just put a huge piece of crab on my plate. "Just eat, Lyra. Don't upset your mother."

Their eyes locked onto me. I felt like a criminal for having a physical limitation.

I ended up eating the entire plate.

That night, my throat swelled until I could barely breathe. My eyes puffed shut. My skin felt like it was on fire.

"Help... help me..."

My voice was a raspy whisper. I stumbled to the door, but the handle wouldn't turn. It was locked from the outside.

Panic set in. I banged on the wood, trying to make a sound.

"Please... Dad... Mom... save me... I don't want to die..."

Through the haze of pain, I heard my mother's voice in the living room.

"It's just an allergy. She won't die. I'm glad I locked her in. She's always faking for attention. It's disgusting. Logan came to me in a dream last night saying he wanted that new gaming console. Let's go to the mall before it closes."

No! Mom, Dad, don't leave me!

I don't want to die. Please...

The front door slammed shut. I was totally alone.

Maybe dying won't hurt as much as this, I thought.

I curled into a ball in the corner.

The sounds of a father and daughter laughing drifted up from the apartment below.

"You crazy girl! You know you're allergic to peanuts! Why did you eat that cookie? You almost died!"

"I'm sorry, Dad. It was an accident. Don't tell Mom!"

"She already knows! she was so worried she threw out her back, but she's still making your favorite dinner. As long as you're okay, we aren't actually mad."

I felt like a sewer rat spying on someone else's sunlight.

I wanted that. I wanted parents who cared about my allergies. I wanted them to worry about me.

But I was just the bad kid who killed her brother. I didn't deserve love.

But Mom, Dad... I really don't want to die...

I didn't die that day.

At the last second, I threw myself out the third-story window. Someone found me on the sidewalk and called an ambulance.

The doctor said if I had arrived five minutes later, it would have been over.

A woman in the next bed was peeling an orange for her daughter. She looked at me and said, "Thank God you're okay. Your parents must be worried sick!"

I watched her feed her daughter orange slices, one by one.

My reflection in the window showed how truly alone I was.

I forced a smile and lied to the room. "Yeah. My parents love me so much."

Suddenly, the hospital door was kicked open.

My parents rushed in.