They Took Everything by Vote, So I Disappeared Chapter 06

They Took Everything by Vote, So I Disappeared Chapter 06

At the first-year check-in area at Riverton State College, Bryce and Mom stood in the middle of the Dustling crowd, both sweating heavily.

“Mom, are you sure Erin never showed up?”

Bryce tugged irritably at his collar.

“I asked the academic advisor.”

“They said no student named Erin ever registered!”

Mom’s face turned grim.

For the past three months, the house had been complete chaos.

After completing a title review, the bank told Bryce that Erin held an ownership interest in the family home they planned to use as collateral.

Without Erin’s signature on the collateral documents, the loan couldn’t move forward.

Bryce couldn’t keep up with the rent on his office, and the landlord had kicked him out.

Now he could only work from home.

Kelsey had gotten exactly what she wanted and turned my old room into a walk-in closet.

But then she realized no one got up at six every morning to iron her dresses anymore.

No one carried her packages from the package room all the way up to the sixth floor.

Dad’s antique coffee pot no longer had his fussy pour-over coffee waiting for him.

At last, they realized just how much invisible labor had fallen on the one vote they’d always trampled underfoot.

“Where did she go?”

Mom stamped her foot anxiously.

“Do you think she really went to some secure federal research facility?”

Bryce scoffed.

“Mom, come on.”

“What secure federal research facility would take someone fresh out of high school?”

“She’s probably just sulking and trying to scare us.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Your dad said we have to bring her back today, or your loan…”

“Let’s ask her old guidance counselor!”

Bryce suddenly remembered.

The two of them immediately took a cab to my old high school.

My former guidance counselor, Mr. Bennett, was grading papers in his office.

When he saw Bryce and Mom, he paused.

“Erin’s mom?”

“What brings you here?”

“Mr. Bennett, we wanted to ask you something.”

“When Erin was applying to colleges, did she ever tell you where she planned to go?”

Mom forced a smile.

Mr. Bennett set down his pen.

His expression grew complicated.

“You… don’t know where Erin went?”

“She’s stubborn.”

“We had a little argument at home, and she ran away.”

Mom quickly tried to cover it up.

Mr. Bennett sighed and pulled a document from his drawer.

“Erin didn’t run away from home.”

“She joined a classified federal aerospace research program.”

Bryce scoffed.

“Mr. Bennett, come on.”

“What would Erin know about research?”

Mr. Bennett’s expression darkened.

“Bryce, I was your guidance counselor too.”

“How can you talk about your own sister like that?”

“Her admissions scores qualified her for Westbridge University’s Early Admission Program.”

“And her individual scores in physics and math ranked in the top ten nationwide!”

“It’s a competitive accelerated selection program designed specifically for exceptional STEM

students.”

“She went through three rounds of testing and interviews before earning the program’s only fellowship slot!”

The office went dead silent.

Mom’s mouth fell open.

For a long moment, she couldn’t get a single word out.

The smile on Bryce’s face froze.

“What… what did you just say?”

Mr. Bennett slapped a copy of the admission confirmation onto the desk.

“She completed the entire security background check and medical screening on her own, without

telling any of you.”

“On the day she left, she sent me a text.”

Mr. Bennett paused and looked at them.

“She said, ‘Mr. Bennett, I finally don’t have to let a family vote decide my life anymore.”””

Mom swayed and grabbed the corner of the desk for support.

“She… she really went to the Red Mesa High Desert?”

“Yes.”

“And under the nondisclosure and security agreement, she can’t return to her home state or contact anyone outside the program for five years.”

Bryce stared at the copy.

The official authorization stamp seemed to burn into his eyes.

He had always thought his little sister was a loser who could only wear Kelsey’s hand-me-downs and eat his leftovers.

Now someone was telling him that the same loser had gone somewhere he’d never be able to reach in his lifetime.

“That’s impossible…”

Bryce muttered under his breath.

Then he turned and stumbled out of the office.

Mom collapsed into a chair and covered her face.

A second later, she burst into tears.

Meanwhile, far away in the Red Mesa High Desert, I had just finished a ten-hour experiment.

I took off my protective suit and walked out of the lab.

The night sky seemed low overhead.

The stars were bright.

Professor Warren handed me a bottle of water.

“Erin, your data looked great today.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

I twisted off the cap and took a long drink.

The water was cold.

But somehow, the sweetness went straight to my heart.