Hide And Seek. They All Betrayed Me Chapter 04

Hide And Seek. They All Betrayed Me Chapter 04

I wrote down what happened over the past few days.

I posted it online. Anonymous.

[If a group makes you feel like the extra one, stop squeezing in.]

I wrote about always being the one holding the rubber band for them as a kid.

Graduation. I took hundreds of photos of them.

I wasn’t in one.

I wrote about the hide and seek.

Replies came fast.

[You’re not too sensitive. They’ve been pushing you out all along.]

[Friends don’t make you the extra one. Ever.]

[Leave them. Hugs.]

Yeah. Leave.

Strangers who’d never met me could see I was hurting.

Six people. Outside my door. Twenty years of my life.

Still waiting for me to get over it.

I turned off my phone. Started packing.

When I dragged my suitcase out, the living room was playing a movie.

Six of them on the couch. Fruit and drinks on the table.

The movie was at its best part.

Mother heard the wheels. Only turned her head.

“Where are you going?”

“New York.”

Adrian stared at the TV. Didn’t look up.

“Leave her.”

“She ran away as a kid. Made it to the community gate. Came back herself.”

Nathan didn’t get up either.

“Blair, enough.”

I passed the dining table. A red gift bag.

The top wasn’t tied.

Inside, a gold bracelet. Looked like a hundred grams.

I’d only seen ones like it in high-end malls.

Every time I stopped, Mother pulled me away. Said gold was too expensive.

She saw me looking. Closed the bag.

“This is for Wren.”

“She’s going abroad alone. We can’t do much.”

“Gold on her. If things get hard, she can sell it.”

Father added,

“Your mother picked it. It’s expensive, but Wren likes it. That’s what matters.”

“We’ll cook for Wren tonight. All sit and chat.”

For my college graduation, mother gave me a two-hundred-dollar suitcase.

She said money was tight. Young people shouldn’t compare.

But Wren was leaving, and suddenly they cared. Like Wren was their daughter.

Wren stood up. “You don’t have to spend so much.”

She held her hand.

“We watched you grow up. You’re like our own.”

“Anything you need abroad, tell us. Don’t suffer alone.”

Elena jumped in.

“When we get vacation, we’ll fly out to see Wren.”

Adrian nodded.

“Yeah. And sightsee while we’re there.”

Father smiled.

“Go. I’ll cover the tickets.”

I stood at the door.

I remembered college. I wanted to attend an academic exchange out of town.

Round trip, six hundred.

He said,

“Useless spending. Cut it from your allowance.”

Laughter from the movie. They laughed with it.

No one looked at me.

I opened the front door. Dragged my suitcase out.

The taxi left the neighborhood I’d lived in for over twenty years.

No one called.

One a.m. Airport.

Check-in. Security. Boarding. Too smooth.

The plane rolled toward the runway.

Through the window, the city shrank.

The announcement told passengers to turn off phones.

I pressed the power button. Didn’t wait for their messages.

Their favor had nothing to do with me anymore.