The Summer I Was Nobody’s Choice Chapter 02

The Summer I Was Nobody’s Choice Chapter 02

The next day after work, a figure was curled up by my front door.

An old woman sat against the doorframe, a plastic sheet spread beneath her.

Bags were piled around her feet. A huge canvas sack, half as tall as she was, had dug a groove into her shoulder.

She turned at the sound of my footsteps, and her eyes lit up.

“Sweetheart. I waited for you all day yesterday. I thought you were sick.”

I froze.

Grandma Brooks didn’t know about the wheel. She didn’t know I was acting out of spite.

She’d just waited, and when I didn’t show, she’d packed all this and taken the bus from her town, following street signs until she found my door.

Guilt climbed up my chest, sour and heavy.

I swallowed the dryness in my throat and bent to pick up her bags.

When she set down the sack, I could see her gray cotton shirt was soaked through with sweat.

She pulled out a fresh chicken from her farm, mushrooms, and eggs wrapped thickly in newspaper, pressing them carefully into my hands.

“Silly girl. Why didn’t you come to Grandma? What have you been eating all alone?”

The eggs were still warm. I sniffed. “I order delivery. I’m not starving.”

Grandma Brooks wrapped her hand around my wrist. Her thumb and fingers overlapped easily.

“You’ve lost weight since I saw you last.”

“Your mom—how does she take care of you?”

“Ryan’s built like a football player, and Chloe’s got color in her cheeks, but you’re nothing but bones. Are you not eating?”

Her words scolded, but her eyes glistened.

I looked down, my own eyes burning.

My brother needed brain food, so Dad hired an international nutritionist to plan his meals. His ingredients were flown in from overseas.

My sister was in the middle of puberty and danced every day, so she had to stay in shape. Mom had an industry dietician design every meal.

When it was my turn, for the sake of fairness, Mom and Dad traded off cooking.

Dad only knew how to make boxed mac and cheese and frozen ravioli, so that’s what I ate.

The ravioli filling was too salty and pasty.

But I ate every bite.

Because it was the only thing my parents ever gave me.

Ryan and Chloe never got that.

I heard a soft sigh.

My hand felt empty.

Grandma Brooks took one of the eggs and cracked it against the table. The shell fell away, and she placed the warm egg in my hand. The yolk was soft and golden.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let me make you something.”

I bit into the egg white, my tongue suddenly salty.

When I touched my face, my fingers came away wet. I hadn’t realized I was crying.

I swallowed the yolk in one bite. “Grandma, let me help.”

She waved me off. “I’ll manage.”

She opened the fridge and stopped mid-sentence.

Under the cold light, the three shelves were packed solid with expensive collagen drinks and sheet masks. Not an inch of space.

Grandma Brooks said nothing. She crouched down and opened the freezer.

The first shelf was filled with rows of tiny, jelly-like containers.

The second shelf was the same, but in blue.

The third shelf held bags of herbal tea and lemon slices.

Grandma Brooks’s face darkened. “Nora, what do you eat?”

“Where are the vegetables? The meat? The fruit?”

I closed the fridge quietly. “We don’t have those. The top shelf is Mom’s for Chloe. The bottom shelves are Ryan’s specialty drinks and supplements and Mom and Dad’s tea.”

Grandma Brooks took a deep breath, her voice heavy.

“Call your mother.”

I pressed my lips together and dialed.

She hung up before it rang thirty seconds.

I called again. She hung up again. Then she blocked me.

“They’re busy,” I said.

Tears shone in Grandma Brooks’s eyes. She turned away quickly, her thin shoulders trembling.

“Sit down, sweetheart. Dinner will be ready soon.”

It wasn’t until bedtime that Mom finally texted.

Mom: [Busy today. What’s up?]

I lay on my side in the dark, listening to Grandma Brooks’s soft breathing.

After a long moment, I typed back.

Nora: [Nothing.]

There wouldn’t be anything. Not anymore.