Left Behind Countless Times, This Time, I’m Leaving Them Chapter 01

Left Behind Countless Times, This Time, I’m Leaving Them Chapter 01

My mom had a funny way of counting.

She always forgot she’d given birth to quadruplets, not three daughters.

When I was eight, our whole family was supposed to go to Wild Waves Theme Park.

She knocked on my three sisters’ doors one by one, called each of them out to the car, and got them in.

Then she left me locked inside our house and didn’t realize one of her kids was missing until the day was over.

When I was fourteen, a few weeks before Thanksgiving, she bought three identical red puffer jackets.

At our family dinner, she noticed I was the only one wearing an old coat.

Instead, she frowned at me and said, “Your sisters all got new clothes. Why do you always have to be different?”

When I was sixteen, our family went to our vacation house on Lake Chelan.

When they headed back to Seattle early, they forgot I was still asleep upstairs—and even cut the power and armed the security system, locking the front door.

I woke up sweating in the stifling heat.

I had to smash a window, climb from the second floor onto the terrace, and borrow a neighbor’s phone to arrange a ride back.

Later, all four of us applied to college.

All three of my sisters got into the University of Washington.

Mom was so happy that she decided to take the whole family on a trip to Chicago.

On the day we were supposed to fly home, she left me at the hotel again.

This time, I didn’t cry or chase after them.

I dragged my suitcase behind me, acceptance letter in hand, and walked into the University of Chicago alone.

—

The day the mail carrier delivered our college acceptance letters, my mother, Paige Taylor, opened the front door beaming.

But he only handed her three thick envelopes.

She slammed the door shut.

I stood on the landing and watched the mail carrier stare at the closed door for a few seconds.

Then he looked down and checked his delivery list.

I walked over and opened the door again.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, pulling one last envelope from his bag. “There’s one more. Vesper Taylor?”

“That’s me. Thank you.”

I took the letter and closed the door.

The living room was loud enough to raise the roof.

My oldest sister, Dawn, held up her acceptance letter and kept angling her phone for the perfect shot.

“Finance at the University of Washington. I’ll be handling the Taylor family’s finances someday!”

My second sister, Solara, wore a brand-new designer hoodie and threw her arms around Mom.

“All that work on my comparative lit application paid off after all. Mom, I didn’t let you down, did I?”

My third sister, Luna, wore a pale dress. The tiny beauty mark at the corner of her eye made her look especially delicate.

“Physics is the hardest major to get into. At least our family will finally have someone who does real research.”

“My three precious girls make me so proud!” Paige couldn’t stop smiling.

She was already making a list of college supplies on her tablet.

“We’re getting the latest laptops. You’ll need decent clothes and bags for college too.”

“Tomorrow we’ll go to Bellevue Square and get everything you need in one trip.”

Dad, Logan, sat beside her, nodding proudly.

I stood in the entryway, watching the picture-perfect mother-daughter scene, like a guest who’d wandered into someone else’s house.

Nobody asked which college had accepted me.

Nobody cared that I was holding an acceptance letter too.

I went straight to my room, shut the door, and opened the envelope.

The University of Chicago’s crest was printed on thick, dark red cardstock.

[Accepted into the Astrophysics program with a full scholarship.]

[Ranked first overall in the Washington State Youth Astronomy Research Program.]

I traced my name with my finger and let out a long breath.

Over the years, I’d learned to make myself as invisible as possible.

It was the only way to avoid clashing with my three sisters, who were loved and spoiled by everyone.

I didn’t compete. Didn’t fight for attention.

I stopped expecting fairness.

I spent most of my time studying math and physics. I tracked stars, entered astronomy competitions, and turned what I found into research papers.

For my twelfth birthday, I used money I’d saved from part-time jobs to buy a secondhand telescope.

Nobody in the family remembered it was my birthday.

Nobody knew I’d spent an entire night outside the garage, recording a lunar occultation.

The stars wouldn’t forget my name just because I was quiet.

As long as the coordinates were right, even the faintest light could leave a trace on a graph.

I was about to put my acceptance letter in the bottom drawer of my desk when my bedroom door suddenly swung open.

Paige stood in the doorway, her carefully styled curls falling over her shoulders. She looked impatient.

“Vesper, what are you doing hiding in your room?”

“The whole family’s celebrating, and you’re sitting in here making that face. Who are you pouting for?”

I didn’t explain. I just looked at her quietly.

She rolled her eyes.

“We’re planning the graduation trip. Come out here. I don’t want you telling everyone later that we left you out.”

“You spend all day hiding in your room—no wonder we forget you exist.”

With that, she padded off in her slippers.

A graduation trip?

This was the first time she’d ever called me to join an important family discussion.

I glanced at my acceptance letter.

Then I got up and followed her.