Left Behind Countless Times, This Time, I’m Leaving Them Chapter 04

Left Behind Countless Times, This Time, I’m Leaving Them Chapter 04

When I arrived at O’Hare International Airport, I wheeled my suitcase out of the arrivals hall.

Nobody was waiting for me outside.

I wasn’t surprised.

Over the next five days, this so-called family graduation trip turned into an absurd test of survival, with me as the only contestant.

On the first day, we went to Millennium Park.

I only stepped away to use the restroom. When I came out, my family was gone.

I called Paige.

“Where are you guys?”

“We were busy taking pictures of Dawn and the others. I turned around and you were gone.”

“We already took a taxi to Navy Pier. Just look around on your own. Don’t start saying we left you behind again.”

She hung up.

When I finally got to Navy Pier, Solara greeted me with a complaint.

“Could you be any slower? We missed the boat tour waiting for you.”

I didn’t argue. I just went to the back of the line.

That evening, we returned to the hotel north of the Chicago River. Something even more ridiculous happened.

After checking the reservation, the front desk clerk said, “Ms. Taylor, you only booked two rooms with two beds and one single room.”

Luna spoke softly, “Mom, I’m used to sleeping alone. I can’t sleep when I share.”

Paige handed the room keys to Dad and my three sisters. Then she looked at me.

“Logan and I will share one room. Dawn and Solara will share the other. Luna gets the single room.”

“Vesper, you can sleep on the lobby couch for one night, or ask if they have a rollaway bed.”

So once again, I was the one sacrificed.

I handed my bank card to the front desk.

“Could I get a single room, please?”

Paige scoffed. “Some people have money to burn.”

The next day, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago.

On the third day, we visited the Museum of Science and Industry.

The Adler Planetarium, which I’d been looking forward to for years, became another place where my family left me behind.

I watched a show about the Milky Way in the planetarium’s dome theater.

When I came out, my family had already gone to Michigan Avenue.

That evening, I didn’t rush to catch up with them.

I sat alone outside the planetarium and watched the twilight deepen over Lake Michigan.

The city lights hid most of the stars, but Jupiter still shone clearly in the southeast.

At least it wouldn’t suddenly leave me behind.

When I finally found them at a café using my GPS, there were five afternoon tea sets on the round table.

One for each parent, and one for each of my three sisters.

Paige glanced at me and said casually, “Oh, you weren’t with us? I didn’t order anything for you.”

“It’s fine,” I said calmly. “I’m not hungry.”

This continued until the last day of the trip.

Our family was supposed to check out at ten in the morning and head to the airport.

I packed my bags at six, kept my University of Chicago acceptance materials on me, and sat in the lobby waiting for them.

Eight o’clock. Nobody came.

Ten o’clock. The elevator doors never opened.

I called my parents and my three sisters one by one. Every call went straight to voicemail.

I walked to the front desk.

“Could you check whether the guests in those three rooms upstairs have checked out?”

The clerk typed on the keyboard, then looked at me in confusion.

“They checked out four hours ago.”

Four hours ago.

They’d left the hotel at six that morning.

They hadn’t woken me.

They hadn’t sent a single message.

They hadn’t even realized that one person was still missing from the ride back.

I stood there and laughed softly.

I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t surprised. I was just done.

The last thread tying me to the word “family” had finally snapped.

I dragged my suitcase out of the hotel.

Chicago was already chilly in early fall.

A black cab was parked by the curb.

The driver put my luggage in the trunk.

“Airport?”

I looked out the window at the hotel entrance.

“No.” I looked away.

“University of Chicago.”