The Four Dolls Who Replaced My Family Chapter 02

The Four Dolls Who Replaced My Family Chapter 02

Being the smart one.

That was the thing people said about me most, for as long as I could remember.

Bella was born prettier. Sweeter. The kind of girl people wanted to protect before she even asked.

All I had was my brain.

I could read a textbook once and memorize it. I could glance at a problem and already know the answer.

But none of that made my parents love me more.

Tristan was just as smart. But for him, it was a point of pride.

For me, it only earned a tired sigh from my mom.

“Why does a girl need to be that smart?”

“She’d be better off like Bella. A little less sharp, a little sweeter. That’s what’s lovable.”

That became the excuse for everything.

Eleanor’s smart. Eleanor can handle it.

So Bella got the first pick at the dinner table.

New clothes went to Bella first.

Even my mom and dad looked at Bella first.

The same thing that made Tristan the golden child made me unworthy. Being smart had become my greatest sin.

Until I met Julian. He was a year ahead of me.

Back then, he hadn’t met Bella yet.

When I told him all of it, he just frowned.

“So she got more love for knowing less? How does that make any sense?”

“Eleanor, being smart isn’t something to apologize for.”

Then he met Bella.

And after that, more than once, he’d laugh and say,

“Your sister’s kind of clueless, but it’s cute.”

I liked him anyway.

He was the first person who ever told me my brain wasn’t the problem.

But now, even Julian had used it against me.

The living room fell still.

Tristan was the first to move, tapping his knuckles against the coffee table.

“Come on, Eleanor. Say something.”

“Mom and Dad aren’t trying to hurt you. They’re trying to keep this family together.”

I looked down. My throat tightened around something I couldn’t swallow.

It took everything I had to push out a single word. “Okay.”

The tension drained out of the room. One by one, like they’d rehearsed it, they pulled gift bags from behind their backs.

“Hey, don’t look so miserable.”

“We got you graduation gifts too.”

“Just like Bella. So don’t start saying we play favorites.”

I looked at the four gifts in front of me, and my eyes burned.

What was this?

Slap me in the face, then hand me a Band-Aid?

And I’d already seen Bella’s gifts.

The newest phone. A laptop. A limited-edition bag. Concert tickets she’d been begging for all year.

What I got was a fountain pen, a book, a plain canvas tote, and a dress with the tag removed.

I picked up the gifts and stood up to leave.

“Eleanor.” My mom’s voice stopped me at the door. She paused. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

I almost laughed.

This was supposed to be my home.

But having dinner here was something I had to be invited to.

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

“No.”

The second I stepped outside, I dumped all four gifts into the nearest dumpster.

On the bus ride back, I saw Bella’s new Instagram post.

[The buzzkill finally left lol. Now we can actually eat.]

The photo below showed my dad, my mom, Tristan, and Julian around the table.

Crabs, shrimp, oysters.

A massive spread. Every single one was seafood. The kind that could send me straight to the ER.

For the first time, I was glad I’d said no.

If I’d stayed, I would’ve just humiliated myself.

A whole table of food, and the only thing I could’ve eaten was plain rice.

Back at the apartment, I started packing.

In the living room, I turned all four plushies around to face the wall.

A postcard sat on my desk, exactly where I’d always kept it.

Julian had given it to me, back before he even knew Bella existed.

The front showed Crestwood Lake on the North Crest campus. In the bottom corner, his messy handwriting.

[Eleanor, I’ll be waiting for you at North Crest.]

I stared at it for two seconds. Then I picked it up and tore it in half.