Eighteen Years Of IOUs, One Day To Pay Them All Chapter 05

Eighteen Years Of IOUs, One Day To Pay Them All Chapter 05

I dragged my suitcase outside and took a rideshare straight to the airport.

My phone was still buzzing nonstop with notifications from the family group chat.

I found an empty seat by the window in the departure area and opened the conversation.

The mood in the group had completely reversed.

Every relative who had been criticizing me alongside my parents had changed their tune.

My aunt sent a long message first.

My aunt: [What kind of mother makes her own daughter sign IOUS for period products and medical bills?]

My uncle followed with an angry voice message.

My uncle: [You two spent years crying to anyone who’d listen that Rowan was reckless with money. Turns out you were twisting the truth the whole time. How could anyone not feel betrayed after being treated like that?]

My cousin chimed in too.

My cousin: [I saw Rowan hand over her Christmas money when we were kids. They turned around and used it to buy her brother LEGO.]

I scrolled through the messages one by one.

Mom, who had been insisting over and over that raising me had cost them a fortune, had gone completely silent.

Dad had stopped arguing back too.

Tessa and my brother had vanished from the conversation entirely, neither of them daring to type a single word.

I stared at the screen for a while.

There had been so many nights when I secretly wished our relatives would finally see how differently my parents treated me.

But now that everyone was taking my side, I felt nothing but numbness.

There was no satisfaction or relief at all.

After paying off the $9,840 balance, the savings I had left would be enough to support me for a

while overseas if I was careful.

Once I was seated by the window on the plane, I watched the world below grow smaller and smaller.

The tension inside me finally eased.

After the plane landed, I went to the apartment I had rented in advance.

It was small, with one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The walls were clean, and it came with a

desk and a wardrobe.

Every inch of it belonged to me.

There were no mountains of my brother’s LEGO sets and no display cases full of Tessa’s dolls

taking up the room.

No one could encroach on my space whenever they felt like it.

A light rain had started by the time I went downstairs to get something to eat.

I stopped at a convenience store, where a rack held all kinds of folding umbrellas.

I chose the cheapest one and paid with my phone.

The moment I wrapped my hand around the handle, a memory from childhood came rushing back.

One day, a downpour started right as school let out.

Mom and Dad drove over specifically to pick up Tessa and my brother.

I stood outside the school waving at them.

Mom rolled down the window and called out impatiently, “We’re packed in here. Buy yourself an umbrella and get home on your own. Sign an IOU for it, and I’ll deduct it from next month’s

allowance.”

But I hadn’t had a single dollar on me.

So I walked more than a mile home through the rain.

When I came down with a low fever and needed medicine afterward, Mom added that bill to the

ledger too.

Now I could buy myself an umbrella with my own money.

I didn’t have to ask anyone else for the money.

As I stepped out of the store, my faculty advisor called me from back home.

“Rowan, getting settled abroad can be expensive. If you run short, I can lend you some money. There’s no rush to pay me back.”

armth spread through me.

“Thank you for checking on me. I still have enough scholarship money for living expenses, and I’m planning to work part-time. I’ll be okay.”

I walked slowly back toward my apartment, thinking through the application process for student jobs on campus.

That evening, the college held a welcome reception for new students.

Warm light filled the hall while the other students gathered in small groups and talked.

I sat alone in a corner, flipping through the student handbook.

A girl carrying a cup of hot cocoa walked over and held it out to me.

“You’re Rowan, right? I noticed your name on the new-student roster. It’s such a beautiful name. And you’re adorable too.”