I Was the One They Were Willing to Lose Chapter 03

I Was the One They Were Willing to Lose Chapter 03

On their third day at the ski resort, Poppy posted a graduation trip video.

In it, the four of them were in matching jackets, chasing each other around at the foot of the mountain.

Beckett carried her backpack. Julian crouched down to tie her shoelace. When the wind knocked her off balance, Griffin pulled her into his arms.

At the end of the video, Poppy smiled at the camera and said, “From uniforms to college—we’ve been so lucky to always be the best four.”

Someone in the comments asked if the person filming was their fifth friend.

Poppy replied: [There’s no fifth person. It’s always just been the four of us.]

I watched it for a few seconds, then closed the app.

Ten minutes later, the video was deleted.

Griffin called.

“Did you see the video just now?”

“I saw it.”

“Poppy got the caption wrong. She meant to write five. She just didn’t want people confused since you weren’t there, so she changed it to four at the last second.”

His explanation came out so smoothly, like he’d rehearsed it.

“Got it.”

There was a sudden gasp on the other end of the line. Then a scramble of footsteps.

Griffin blurted out “gotta go” and hung up before I could even respond.

Not long after, the group chat exploded.

Poppy had slipped while taking photos and slid down a slope, spraining her ankle—they needed to cut the trip short.

Beckett asked why I wasn’t answering my phone.

Julian told me to look up the earliest flight home.

I found it bizarre.

[You’re literally at the airport. Can’t you look it up yourselves?]

Beckett fired back a voice message almost instantly.

“You always used to handle this stuff! Poppy’s been crying nonstop from the pain, none of us have time to deal with flights!”

So the only time they thought of me was when they needed someone to clean up after them.

For years, every time the five of us traveled, I was the one booking tickets, sorting IDs, putting together itineraries, packing meds.

They grew accustomed to my meticulous care, yet never once did they acknowledge it as a sacrifice.

I closed the chat. I didn’t look up their flights.

Half an hour later, Mom opened my bedroom door.

“Poppy’s hurt and you’re just sitting here?”

She shoved her phone in my face. On the screen was a photo of Poppy’s swollen ankle.

“They’ve already taken her to the hospital.”

“Then hurry up and clean your room.”

I blinked. “Clean it for what?”

“She’s hurt like that, she can’t be alone upstairs with no one to help her.”

“Your room’s on the ground floor. Let her stay there for a couple months.”

Mom said it like it was obvious, like it never occurred to her I might refuse.

“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

“Doesn’t the study have a foldout bed? You’re going to State anyway, you’ll mostly be living on campus. Don’t be petty about this.”

Going to State.

So my room could be handed off to someone else, in advance.

I said nothing for a moment. Then I got up and opened my closet.

Mom nodded, satisfied. “That’s more like it.”

“Poppy’s been frail since she was little, you need to be more understanding.”

I didn’t explain. I just packed my clothes into the suitcases, one piece at a time.

By the time all three suitcases were full, the room was more than half empty.

When Mom came back in and saw the luggage on the floor, something finally seemed off to her.

“Why are you packing everything?”

“I need it for school.”

“You’re going to school locally. Why would you need to bring this much?”

I zipped up the last suitcase. “Getting it done early saves trouble later.”

She eyed me suspiciously for a moment, then steered the conversation right back to Poppy.

“Is that state school of yours even a sure thing? Poppy’s practice scores were lower than yours and she’s already confident she’ll get in. If you don’t get in, don’t come crying to me.”

I laughed a little.

She didn’t know what my actual score was.

Just like the three boys who’d grown up beside me—they’d never once asked either.

From the day scores came out to the day applications were due, their attention never left Poppy.

When her practice score went up, they celebrated. When it dropped, they scrambled to find her a backup plan.

The only question I ever got was from Griffin: “You’ll be staying local with us, right?”

That night, the four of them finally made it back.

The three boys took turns carrying Poppy in.

Beckett had her bags. Julian had her medicine. Griffin was carefully cradling her injured foot.

They carried her into my room.

Mom had already changed the sheets, and brought in a plate of freshly cut mango.

“Poppy, get comfortable and heal up. Wren’s about to go to State anyway, this room’s just sitting empty otherwise.”

No one noticed that every photo of me had already been taken off the wall.

No one noticed the three suitcases by the bed, packed with everything I owned in this city.