I Cancelled My Dream School To Escape Their Justice Chapter 01

I Cancelled My Dream School To Escape Their Justice Chapter 01

Both my parents were teachers. They always believed in keeping things fair.

When I got a five-hundred-dollar scholarship, they turned around and gave my younger sister a thousand-dollar cash gift.

When I got into the school’s honors program, they hired a ridiculously expensive one-on-one tutor for her.

“If Nora gets something, Sophie gets something too. That’s only fair”[older sister / younger sister 很明显是“姐姐有的，妹妹也得有”的中文称谓逻辑。美国父母更自然会直接叫名字]

They’d used “fairness” to justify it for eighteen years.[语法没错，但 played this game called fairness 有点直译“这场名为公平的游戏”]

Only my childhood sweetheart, Liam Vance, would comfort me when I felt wronged.

My sister hadn’t gotten into any four-year college and was headed to community college.[community college cutoff 不符合美国录取制度，明显是“专科线”硬套]

To prove they were “fair,” my parents decided to take my sister on a trip.

The morning they left, they made Sophie a huge breakfast and left me nothing but a sink full of dirty dishes.[who’d stayed up late 很像“晚睡的我”的直译，而且会让英文读者误以为女主只是自己睡懒觉]

When I woke up, the kitchen was on fire. Thick smoke everywhere.

The door had been locked from the outside.

I called my parents in a panic.

But all I got was their angry shouting over the phone:

“We agreed—whatever you have, your sister gets too. You got into Stanford, so we’re just taking her on a trip. Do you really have to be this petty?”

Even Liam chimed in from the background:

“Nora, you already did so well. Don’t make things harder for Sophie. That’s not fair.”

So from the very beginning, no one had ever been on my side.

I smashed the window with what little strength I had left and jumped.[smoke-filled window 逻辑不准确，是房间充满烟，不是窗户“smoke-filled”]

As the ambulance doors closed, I finally started crying.

Fine then. I didn’t want their twisted version of “fairness” anymore.

***

Because I broke my leg in the fall, I spent two weeks in the hospital.

The family group chat never stopped buzzing.

Travel photos of Sophie kept popping up.

And right at the top, messages from my parents tagging me:

Mom: [We forgot to turn off the stove before we left. Go turn it off.]

Dad: [Wash the dishes while you’re at it. Don’t slack off.]

I stared at the happy photos of the four of them—Mom and Dad behind Sophie, Liam holding her hand, everyone smiling.

I didn’t reply. I checked myself out of the hospital alone.

When I got home, the living room light was on. Four pairs of shoes by the door—they were back from their trip.

The second I walked in, my parents tore into me.

“What happened while we were gone? How did the kitchen catch fire?”[How were you watching the house? 不自然，是“怎么看家的”直译]

“It was fine when we left. Were you throwing a tantrum and setting things on fire on purpose?”

Liam frowned at me.[voice full of accusation“语气满是指责”的翻译型搭配]“Nora, this is too much. Just because we didn’t take you with us doesn’t mean you get to burn the house down.”[]

Sophie looked at me with tearful eyes, voice trembling:

“It’s all my fault. I made Nora feel left out.”

Before she could even start crying, everyone rushed to her side.

My parents pulled her into their arms. Liam carefully wiped her tears with a tissue.

No one saw my crutches. No one saw the cast on my right leg.

No one asked if I’d been hurt in the fire. No one asked if my wounds still hurt.

My throat tightened.[中文身体化情绪直译，“胸口酸涩堵到鼻尖”]

I remembered filling out my college applications.

I said I was applying to Stanford.

My parents didn’t even look up. “Whatever you want.”

They spent three nights researching schools with her, calling counselors and anyone else they thought could help.[Called countless experts 仍然很像中国“找专家填志愿”；美国申请 community college 不会这样操作]

“San Francisco’s a great city—good pay, stable jobs. If Sophie goes there, Nora can look out for her.”

“Look out for her” meant “be her built-in babysitter.”

It had always been this way. No matter how well I did, the moment Sophie cried or complained, everyone’s attention shifted to her.

Everything I earned—honors, prizes—was given to her double.

They called it fairness. It was just favoritism.

And Liam—who’d once sworn to always stand by me—hadn’t even looked at me since he walked in the door.

His eyes never left Sophie.

We’d grown up together. I was his girlfriend.

But in the end, he’d chosen Sophie too.[“他的心偏向她”明显直译]

It hurt so much I couldn’t breathe.

I didn’t look at them anymore. I went to my room, opened my computer, and in the last hour before the deadline, canceled my Stanford application.

I chose Harvard—over a thousand miles away.

Then I sent Liam one message.

Nora: [We’re done.]