My Parents Deleted My Only Graduation Photo for My Bestie Chapter 01

My Parents Deleted My Only Graduation Photo for My Bestie Chapter 01

On the day of our graduation photoshoot, my parents couldn’t stop taking pictures of my boyfriend and my best friend.

Every shot framed them pressed close together, while my parents stood to the side, smiling like they were watching a wedding.

Never mind that I was their actual daughter. Or that Logan Hayes had been my boyfriend for four years.

I stood off to the side in my cap and gown, waiting. My mom never called my name.

When the photoshoot ended, Chloe Vance mentioned she still hadn’t found a job. Logan forgot I existed. He turned to her, his voice soft and full of concern.

“Why don’t you apply where I’m going? I can put in a good word for you.”

My dad jumped in. “Send your resume to Mr. Sterling. He knows people. Your first job sets the tone. You can’t just settle.”

Julian came over with a bottle of ice water and handed it straight to Chloe.

“Don’t stress about the job search. My company is hiring right now. I’ll get you a referral.”

No one noticed my outstretched hand hovering in the air until the silence turned awkward. Then they finally remembered I was standing right there.

“Audrey, you’ll figure something out.”

My mom piled on. “Your degree isn’t anything special, honey. Be grateful if anyone hires you. You can’t afford to be picky.”

Logan scrolled through the photos and frowned. “Audrey’s in the way of this one. Delete it.”

That was the only photo out of hundreds where I was even in the frame.

I stood there. My fingers curled into fists.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t see me. They saw me just fine. They just didn’t think I mattered.

To an outsider, anyone would think Chloe was their real daughter. They’d think she and Logan were the couple.

Fine. Then I’d take the job farthest from home and never come back.

…

Logan deleted the photo and passed his phone to Chloe so she could choose which ones to keep.

A notification slid across the screen. An email about her interview.

She didn’t get the job.

Tears instantly welled in Chloe’s eyes.

“Am I really that awful? I can’t even get a single offer?”

My mom wrapped her in a hug before the first tear even fell.

“Oh, stop that. If anyone’s going to have trouble finding a job, it’s Audrey, not you.”

“Our Chloe? You’ve always been a star. There’s no way you won’t land something.”

She shot me a look as she said it.

“That company has no idea what they’re missing. Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll find the right one. No rush.”

I hadn’t said a word. I hadn’t done a thing. Somehow, I was still the measuring stick they used to make Chloe look better.

Growing up, I lost count of how many times I wondered if the hospital had switched us. If Chloe was really their daughter and I belonged to the neighbors down the street.

But the DNA test came back as a match. No mix-up. No excuse.

So I told myself maybe I was the problem.

Maybe I just wasn’t smart enough.

So I worked myself to the bone trying to prove my worth.

But no matter what I did, it didn’t matter. Loving Chloe more was just how this family worked.

The way they were acting right now wasn’t a choice. It was second nature.

Ignoring me.

I always found my own way home.

So I stood there.

Watching Logan whisper sweet reassurances to Chloe.

My dad pulled out his phone right there and called the HR director at Zenith Corp.

He hung up with a satisfied smile.

“Sterling’s going to handle it. Your first job matters. You’ve gotta start somewhere like Zenith. Nothing less.”

There was always a safety net under Chloe.

The second she stumbled, everyone rushed forward to catch her.

Freshman year, she failed one of her core classes.

My mom hired an upperclassman to tutor her. Three hundred dollars a session, twenty sessions paid upfront without blinking.

That same semester, I scored a ninety-five on my toughest final.

I showed my mom my transcript, desperate for even one word of praise.

What I got was a lecture.

“Didn’t you say you studied hard? So what happened to the other five points?”

After that, I stopped showing her my grades.

Junior year, I got hit with stomach pains so bad that I doubled over outside the lab building and couldn’t stand up.

I called Logan. For the first time ever, I asked him to come with me to the hospital.

The line went quiet.

“Chloe has a presentation tomorrow, and she’s freaking out. She needs me to help her rehearse.”

“You’ve always been fine on your own, right? Just grab an Uber. You’ll be okay.”

The Uber driver took one look at my face, got out, and walked me into the ER himself.

A complete stranger could see I shouldn’t be alone.

Logan couldn’t be bothered.

Maybe it was my fault for never making a scene.

I’d been low-maintenance for so long that they decided I couldn’t feel pain. That I didn’t need anything.

Eventually, almost like an afterthought, my mom asked about my job search.

I started to answer, but my dad waved me off before I could get a word out.

“What kind of job is she going to get with that degree? She should just take whatever she can get.”

Julian looked over at me and scoffed.

“Yeah, at least get something lined up so you don’t sit around at home mooching off Mom and Dad after graduation.”

Logan chimed in too. “If you really can’t find anything, I think there’s a receptionist opening at my company. I can ask around.”

He said it like he was doing me a favor. Like he had actually thought about it.

I looked down at my phone and pulled up my offer letter.

Westridge Aerospace Materials Institute.

Great pay. Solid work. Two thousand miles from home.

I’d been sitting on the offer for a week.

Because I was waiting.

For my mom to ask, just once, where I wanted to be.

For my dad to pick up the phone for me the way he did for her.

For Logan to remember that we’d promised to move to the same city together.

But with six hours left before the deadline, not one of them had asked.

I pressed Accept.

The screen refreshed.

[Audrey, welcome to Westridge Aerospace Materials Institute!]

The first place that actually wanted me was two thousand miles away.