The Suitcase They Threw Out, The Ticket I Bought To Leave Chapter 08

The Suitcase They Threw Out, The Ticket I Bought To Leave Chapter 08

Three months slipped by. Winter break arrived on campus. My roommates loaded suitcases and

headed home, leaving me all alone.

“Wallace, aren’t you packing to go home?” A classmate passing by glanced over, noticing me hunched over a model at my desk. “Winters up here are brutal, and the dorms close over break. If you’re staying, you need to rent an apartment and stock up on groceries.”

I gave her a gentle smile. “Thanks for worrying. I’m heading home soon. I just need to finish one

last project first.”

Relief crossed her face. “You’re such a genius, working even during break.”

I gave a shy little smile.

One by one, the whole dorm emptied out.

I finished my final set of calculations and exhaled, my breath fogging in cool indoor air. Staring at my completed project, I still felt strange hearing “genius”.

A 1570 SAT score meant almost nothing among so many brilliant students. I just worked a hundred

times harder than the natural prodigies around me.

This semester I’d arrived at the library before sunrise and returned to my dorm long after dark.

Buried in textbooks, I barely thought about anyone from home.

The campus would shut down completely tomorrow. No students were allowed to remain in campus

housing. Where would I go?

Home? There was no place for me there.

Nadia updated her Instagram. Ever since I blocked her number, she’s actually made her posts

public.

I had no idea what she was thinking, but every week there she was, posting packages from her parents and photos with Hunter. I hadn’t liked or commented on any of them.

I felt neither affection nor hatred for my twin sister. She was practically a stranger now. She resented any attention I might take away from her, and she looked down on me.

This new post was odd. The caption read: Wallace-Only you can see this.

The photo showed a full family-dinner table. The chair always placed farthest from Mom and Dad- my chair-had been moved right next to Dad.

I typed a single question-mark comment.

Nadia replied right away: “Come home, Wally. Mom and Dad miss you terribly.”

My gaze lingered on that word “home”.

That place had never truly been mine. The moment I committed to Cornell, I’d slowly removed everything that belonged to me.

It wasn’t much: books I’d bought with part-time pay, a second-hand tablet, stacks of spent pen

refills.

All my old shoes and clothes, even underwear, were Nadia’s cast-offs. I’d thrown those away long ago. That tiny, damp bedroom in my parents’ house… I never wanted to step foot inside again.

Seeing I wouldn’t respond, Nadia gave up.

I locked my phone and opened my closet, packing clothes one by one into my suitcase. Every piece was brand-new, none of them hand-me-downs from Nadia. I’d earned every item working endless holiday shifts. Cheap though they were, I cherished each one.

I’d already secured a part-time gig through my old boss. He still believed I was attending Duke, so he assigned me shifts at a coffee shop near Duke’s campus. I decided not to correct him.

It didn’t matter where I worked. Besides, Nadia would be home for break and Hunter would hang around her. Odds were slim we would cross paths.

Fate had other plans. The second I stepped off the train, I spotted Hunter hauling luggage inside the

station.