Everyone in My Family Had AC Except Me-So I Walked Away Chapter 09

Everyone in My Family Had AC Except Me-So I Walked Away Chapter 09

One year later, I returned to my hometown.

The moment the plane landed, the familiar air wrapped around me, hot, humid, and almost impossible to breathe in. I dragged my suitcase back to the old house and pushed open the familiar front door. The new AC in the living room was running, sending a wave of cool air toward me. The four people on the couch looked up at the same time. They stared at me as if I were someone who had no right to be there. For several

seconds, no one spoke.

Then Dad slapped the newspaper in his hand onto the coffee table and shot to his feet.

“So you finally remembered where home is.”

Mom stood up too, her lips moving soundlessly as her eyes quickly turned red. I set my suitcase beside the front door and calmly changed out of my shoes.

“I came back to see you. I won’t be staying long.”

Dad’s expression darkened even further.

“You leave whenever you want and come back whenever it suits you. Erin, does this family mean anything to

you at all?”

“I made it perfectly clear in my letter that I was leaving for work.”

I looked at him. “Why are you still acting as if I committed some unforgivable crime?”

I rolled my suitcase toward my old bedroom, intending to put my things down first. But the moment I opened the door, I stopped. My bed, desk, and wardrobe were all gone. A wall of mirrors had been installed where my bed used to be, and a dance barre ran along the opposite wall.

“Where is my room?”

Mom opened her mouth, and when she answered, there was obvious hesitation in her voice. “After you left, Lily said she wanted to learn how to dance, but there wasn’t a suitable place in the house. So I cleared out

your room and turned it into a dance studio. You hadn’t come home for an entire year anyway…”

I nodded.

“That’s fine. Since I no longer have a room here, I’ll go.”

“Erin.”

Mom suddenly rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around me from behind. Her body pressed

against my back, and I could feel her trembling.

“Don’t go. I was wrong. I was so wrong. Please come home. If you want an air conditioner, we’ll install one. If

you want cake, I’ll buy it whenever you want. I promise I won’t play favorites anymore. Please come back and

live with us.”

I stood there stiffly. Her body heat seeped through my shirt, hot and damp. It felt exactly like the heavy,

suffocating air that had surrounded me for more than twenty years while I was trapped inside that tiny

bedroom without air conditioning. Dad stood in the middle of the living room with his lips pressed tightly

together. He did not say a word.

Jordan walked over and spoke quietly. “Erin, come home. We really did miss you this past year.”

Lily moved closer and grabbed the hem of my shirt, already on the verge of tears.

“Erin, please stay. I’ll give the room back to you. I won’t take dance lessons anymore. Please move back

home.”

I slowly pulled myself free from Mom’s arms and turned around. Her face was covered in tears, and the fine lines around her eyes were deeper than they had been a year ago. My gaze moved past her, past Dad, Jordan, and Lily, until it landed on the new AC in the living room. Then I looked back at the room that had once been mine, at the wall of mirrors and the spotless wooden floor.

“There is no place left for me in this house. What would coming back even mean?”

Mom shook her head desperately.

“We can change the room back. We’ll take down the mirrors right now, buy you a new bed, and install an air conditioner. As long as you’re willing to come home, we can redo everything.”

“Don’t bother.”

My voice remained calm.

“The research institute gave me a two-bedroom staff apartment. It has everything I need, and my coworkers

treat me well.”

I glanced once at the dance studio.

“I only came back to see how all of you were doing.”

Then I looked at them again.

“Now that I’ve seen you’re all doing well, I can leave with peace of mind.”

I took hold of my suitcase and turned toward the door.

As the door closed behind me, Mom’s broken sobs followed me from inside the house.

“Erin!”

I did not look back. That house had never made room for me. Somewhere else, I had finally found a place

that was truly mine. They could keep favoring Lily, just as they always had. And I finally had a life of my own.

The End