The Summer I Was Nobody’s Choice Chapter 01

The Summer I Was Nobody’s Choice Chapter 01

Every summer, my parents spent the last month of vacation arguing about whose house to send me to.

Dad was taking my older brother—the one who carried his last name—on a study trip. Mom was taking my little sister—the one who carried hers—on a concert tour.

I was the only one left behind. The disposable proof of their fairness.

In previous years, they’d drawn lots. But Mom had gotten stuck with me three times in a row, and she was done.

“Three years in a row it’s been my parents’ house. That’s not fair. This year, it’s your turn.”

Dad snapped back, “Why? It’s fifty-fifty. If you’re unlucky, you deal with it.”

I stood in the doorway, twisting the hem of my shirt.

They argued for an hour. Neither one gave in.

Finally, my brother broke the deadlock. “Dad, we’re going to miss our flight. Just draw already.”

Dad nodded and pulled out his phone.

Mom looked ready to argue more, but my sister pouted and whined, “Mommy, my fans are waiting. If I’m late, they’ll call me lazy.”

“You’re the boss.” Mom smiled and gave in.

Not once did anyone ask what I wanted.

Dad opened the random picker app they used every year and started the wheel.[微信功能直接转移，Whatsapp没有]

Mom and Dad held their breath, each hoping it wouldn’t land on them.

My lips twitched.

I’d chosen a school thousands of miles away for a reason.

This pointer had been spinning for eighteen years.

It shouldn’t be stuck on a wheel with only two names forever.

***

A minute later, the wheel stopped.

The red pointer passed the green section—Dad’s side—and slowly drifted toward the black.

The outcome seemed set. I’d be going to Grandma Brooks’s again.

But I didn’t want to go anywhere.

If I didn’t go, maybe I could pretend I hadn’t been the one abandoned for eighteen years.

I squeezed the sweat from my palms and opened my mouth to speak.

My sister shrieked and jumped off the couch.

“Oh my god, we can’t wait any longer! The fan meet-and-greet starts in half an hour. Mom, we have to go now!”

Mom grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “It’s fine, sweetie. We’ll say there was traffic. Your fans won’t be mad.”

She passed me and bent down for a hug that lasted less than a second.

“Be good at Grandma’s.”

She moved so fast I could only turn to Dad.

“Dad, I don’t want to go to Grandma’s this year.”

My brother was staring at his laptop. He patted my shoulder without looking up.

“Don’t be such a baby. I’ll bring you a souvenir from Australia.”

Dad didn’t seem to hear me. He glanced at his watch and stood up quickly. Before leaving, he said, “Take an Uber to Grandma’s. Don’t stay home alone. We’d worry.”

Dad worried about my brother, so he flew overseas with him and never left his side.

Mom worried about my sister, so she quit her job to become her full-time manager.

Their worry for me always looked the same—sending me off to two old people.

The living room was empty. I sat there alone for a while, then reopened the app. The green-and-black wheel was still on the screen.

The pointer hadn’t stopped on Mom’s side. It hadn’t stopped on Dad’s side either.

It sat exactly in the middle, not leaning either way.

Like my parents’ hearts. They’d never once leaned toward me.

I screenshotted it and sent it to the family group chat.

Nora: [I’m getting a summer job.]

No one replied.

But soon, new photos of my sister appeared in the chat.

Mom posted eighteen pictures in a row. “My baby is flawless from every angle!” “No daughter of mine has ever looked bad!”

Dad wasn’t about to be outdone.

He posted a shot of my brother’s profile, head bent over his keyboard, clouds stretching across the sky in the background.

“First place again this year. Once he lands, the whole world will be fighting to interview him.”

“My son is unstoppable.”

They were always competing.

They’d been like this ever since I was born.

The original plan was for the first child to take Dad’s last name and the second to take Mom’s.

But Grandma Miller refused. A fortune teller had told her I wasn’t meant to be tied to either family. If they forced it, I’d die young.

Mom didn’t believe it. She thought the Millers were making excuses.

So, to prove a point, she risked a high-risk pregnancy and had my sister, who took her last name.

I became the extra. The one who didn’t fit.

On the screen, my message got buried, like a footnote under someone else’s highlight reel.

I smiled faintly, canceled my Uber order, did an online interview with a manager, and agreed to start a trial shift the next day.

That night, I unpacked my suitcase and put everything back in the closet.

Then I added my thick winter clothes.

I’d be heading north in a month. It was cold there. I wouldn’t need summer clothes.