Chapter 2

2

I skipped morning practice, said I wasn't feeling well.

I remembered. This was the day it all started.

My whole life flipped upside down.

Brittany, the head cheerleader, dragged Ashley off by the arm.

I heard their whole conversation in the hall corner.

"If you make sure Sarah can't take the SATs, I'll get you an interview with my dad's firm this summer."

"Don't think I don't see how jealous you are of your 'perfect' sister."

"You gonna just sit there and watch your parents only care about her?"

Finally, I heard Ashley grit her teeth. "Fine. I'll do it."

Yeah, Ashley wasn't my parents' biological kid.

I was a preemie, always sick.

A normal cold for most kids was like the freakin' plague to me.

My parents got "serious condition" notices from the hospital, like, a million times in the first two years.

The doctors said I wouldn't live past five.

Mom and Dad spent so many nights crying, it was ridiculous.

Ashley came into the picture around then.

My dad's best army buddy and his wife were killed in a car wreck, and their daughter, Ashley, was all alone.

Dad brought Ashley home and treated her like his own flesh and blood.

Everyone was always so nice to her.

Whenever they bought me a gift, Ashley always got a better one.

"Don't worry, Ashley. You'll always be our daughter."

Whenever she bombed a test, Mom and Dad were all sympathetic.

"Honey, we don't care if you get rich. Just be happy."

"As long as you're healthy, Ashley, that's all that matters."

But Ashley didn't see it that way.

She thought my parents had no expectations for her and only put pressure on me, the sickly sister.

Yeah, I didn't die like the doctors predicted. I somehow survived to eighteen.

I spent those years studying, killing myself to try and make my short life worth remembering. I wanted my parents to be proud of me, not just sad when they thought of me.

But Ashley took that away from me too.

Before first period, Ashley suddenly called me out in the hall.

She shyly looked down, testing the waters. "Um, Sarah, you don't, like, have a thing for Jake, do you?"

I adjusted my glasses.

"Nope. I don't have any romantic feelings for Jake."

That's what I said the first time, too.

But Ashley interrupted me. "I've always been kinda jealous. I always thought you and Jake had this love-hate thing going on."

She glanced at me, then stuck out her tongue. "I've had a crush on Jake forever, but he's a total brainiac, and I'm, like, the opposite. I wouldn't even know what to say."

Back then, Ashley blushed and handed me the letter, asking me to give it to him.

I told her not to worry about it before the SATs, just focus on studying. We could talk about it later.

But she grabbed my sleeve and begged. She swore she'd focus after it was done.

"You're the best, Sarah! Just this once, please?"

This time, she held out the letter.

I looked at her hopeful eyes and smiled.

"You got it. I'll handle everything."