Two Homes, No Place for Me Chapter 05

Two Homes, No Place for Me Chapter 05

After I leave both family group chats, my phone stays quiet for less than a minute.

Then Dad, Mom, Derek, and Holden start calling one after another.

I silence every call.

Mia, the upperclassman assigned to help our incoming class, finishes my check-in paperwork

before casually asking,

“Your parents didn’t come with you?”

I shake my head.

She glances at the thin canvas bag in my hand but doesn’t ask any more questions. Instead, she

takes me to the dorm.

It’s a four-person room, and my bed is by the window.

The desk, closet, and bed are all modest, but they are unmistakably mine.

My roommates’ parents are busy making their beds and wiping down their desks.

One of them looks over at me.

“Is the rest of your luggage still on the way?”

I nod, “Yeah. I shipped most of it ahead.”

They don’t know that, apart from the things I shipped ahead, the only part of my eighteen years that

I was actually able to take with me was the canvas bag in my hand.

I hang my clothes in the closet one by one, lock my admission letter and ID in the drawer, then slip my dorm key into my pocket.

For the first time in my life, I have a key that truly opens a place of my own.

I don’t have to call ahead.

I don’t have to stand outside a door and wait for someone to remember to let me in.

That evening, Mia asks me to fill out my new-student information form.

When I reach the emergency contact section, my pen stops for a long time.

I used to put Holden there.

When I was little, he once patted his chest and promised me,

“Wherever you are, just call me. I’ll be the first one there.”

But the day before my move-in, he knew he was supposed to pick me up at seven.

Instead, he left me behind in a storage room packed with Juliet’s old things because he had to

deliver a starry-light decoration to her.

I cross out the half-written name “Holden” and replace it with Mia’s number.

The moment I turn in the form, Dad calls through the school office.

Mia hands me the phone.

The second I answer, Dad’s accusations come flying at me.

“Anne, who gave you permission to run off that far? And to a human university, of all places? What

were you thinking?”

He doesn’t even pause before continuing.

“Why didn’t you tell us about something this important in person?”

I open the screenshot everyone ignored and send it to him again.

“I did tell you. I sent it to Dad’s family group and Mom’s family group.”

Then I send another message.

“Nobody replied.”

Dad is silent for a few seconds before saying, “Those group chats are always blowing up. How was I supposed to see every message? You could’ve called us directly.”

I suddenly find it almost laughable.

So they didn’t miss my admission notice because they didn’t care.

They missed it because I didn’t keep chasing after them, reminding them again and again.

Mom quickly takes the phone.

“Anne, come home first. We can work out the room situation.”

There’s an almost matter-of-fact certainty in her voice.

“You’re worried about Cole? He’s still young. He can sleep with us for a while. I’ll give you his

room.”

I ask quietly, “Is it his room or mine?”

Silence falls on the other end.

Mom doesn’t answer. Dad immediately cuts in.

“We can have Derek clear out the study for you.”

Derek’s voice comes from somewhere nearby.

“Then where am I supposed to put my computer and all

The phone instantly erupts into chaos.

my books?”

They’re still arguing over who should temporarily move out.

Not one of them admits that from the moment the renovations began, they never truly left a place

for me.

I hang up.

Not long after, Holden sends me a photo.

It’s the twenty-eight-inch suitcase Juliet took.

Holden: “I’ve taken Juliet’s things out. I can ship the suitcase to your dorm tomorrow. Send me the

address.”

I stare at the suitcase.

But all I can see is my clothes and admission papers scattered across the floor.

After a long time, I reply, “Don’t bother. I’m already settled.”

This time, it isn’t out of spite.

I’m not waiting for anyone to come comfort me.

My dorm bed is already made.

My clothes are hanging in the closet.

My documents are safely tucked away in the drawer.

My key card and key are right there in my hand.

This small dorm room feels more like a real piece of my pack territory than either of my parents’

brand-new houses.

At least here, I won’t suddenly become someone without a room because of someone else’s

decision.

I finally have a door of my own.

And, for the first time, I have somewhere I can return to without needing anyone’s permission.