The Family Group Chat Without Me, The Truth They Hid Chapter 01

The Family Group Chat Without Me, The Truth They Hid Chapter 01

When a group of drunk men dragged me into an alley, my boyfriend and my best friend started their little freeze game again.

I fought desperately less than thirty feet away while they stood at the mouth of the alley, perfectly still, pretending they couldn’t hear a thing.

After I was finally rescued, Tamsin Vey, my best friend, bounced over to me with a grin.

“Good job, Cy! You actually made a few sounds this time. A couple more scares like that and you’ll be talking again in no time!”

She exchanged a look with Stellan Roarke, my boyfriend, both of them barely holding back their laughter.

I didn’t even need to check my phone. They had probably already dumped pictures of me at my worst into the family group chat.

Ever since I’d lost my voice, the two of them had called this “exposure therapy” and used it as an excuse to play their stupid freeze game whenever I was in danger.

When I had an asthma attack and begged for help, they hid my rescue inhaler and stood there watching.

Another time, they left me on the side of the highway and silently watched me run after their car.

I’d thought they were worried about me and had just chosen a horribly misguided way to help.

Until this morning.

I’d found a family group chat on Stellan’s phone.

One I wasn’t in.

The chat was packed with humiliating photos of me, but Mom’s messages were the ones that burned themselves into my memory.

[She looks so freaking ridiculous. Miri nearly died laughing at these pictures.]

[She’s finally over Cyra taking that Sablewick scholarship placement from her.]

[You can stop slipping Cyra those pills that shut down her voice now.]

I stared at one familiar profile picture after another, suddenly numb.

So that was what the past few months had really been.

Not treatment. Not some twisted attempt to help me recover. Just a game to keep my little sister, Mirelle, entertained.

They had all been in on it.

I was the only one who hadn’t known they were laughing at me.

***

I was still crouched on the ground, bruised all over, when Stellan walked over and rubbed my head.

“What? Too excited to react?”

“You really did improve this time. Those sounds were almost words.”

Right.

My voice had once been what set me apart from everyone else.

So when I first realized I couldn’t speak anymore, it felt like every hour I’d spent training had been erased overnight.

I broke down. I’d hurt myself and tried more than once to end my life.

They had all seen it.

And while I was falling apart, they’d taken pictures of me crying and struggling just to make Mirelle laugh.

I ignored the ache in my chest, pushed myself up against the wall, and started gathering everything that had been scattered across the ground.

When I didn’t respond, Stellan paused, then scoffed.

He probably thought I was sulking again.

He was sure I’d calm myself down in a little while and come back to them like I always did.

Not this time.

I picked up the last of my things, walked around them, and headed in the opposite direction from home.

I’d barely made it a few steps when I heard Tamsin snort behind me.

“Oh my God, look at her clothes. They’re practically shredded. Get a picture for Miri. She’ll get a kick out of this.”

“Shh! If she hears you, we’re screwed. You know how petty she gets. What if she finds out and starts going after Miri again?”

I stopped.

Ridiculous and petty.

So that was how the two people who had been beside me for half my life saw me.

When Tamsin had been bullied, I’d thrown myself in front of her and taken a knife to my lower back. I’d even made stupid faces afterward so she wouldn’t be scared.

When Stellan’s mother was critically ill and the hospital kept giving them the runaround, I skipped an important competition, gathered evidence all over the city, and went to the media until they finally acted.

But now?

I was “ridiculous.”

I was “petty.”

Those were the labels they had chosen for me.

My phone buzzed.

The family group chat was taking bets on how many days I’d cry this time. The messages disappeared almost as soon as they were sent, but not before I saw Mirelle’s confident answer:

[ONE DAY.]

One day.

The last time, Mirelle had thrown my puppy from a sixth-floor window.

I’d held its dying body in my arms and frantically called the emergency vet.

My face turned red from trying to force out a sound. My throat bled.

Nothing came out.

I pounded on Mom’s door, then grabbed desperately at Stellan and Tamsin, begging them without words to help me.

In the middle of the chaos, Mirelle gave a small cough.

And the freeze game started again.

Everyone went still.

No one moved. No one helped.

My puppy convulsed in my arms and died.

I had crouched outside the door with its bloodied body in my arms and cried for an entire day before I finally passed out.

The memory made me tremble, and I hurried away.

I had just reached the end of the alley when a bucket of freezing water came down over my head without warning.

I stood there clutching my soaked clothes, frozen in place and dripping wet. Ridiculous. Just like they’d said.