09
After graduation, I didn’t go home. I went with Maya to the coast for the summer to work at a resort.
Almost every other day, I’d get a call from a number back home. I always declined it.
People who get lost don’t get lost because no one was holding their hand. They get lost because they were distracted by somethi-
ng prettier.
The day the exam scores were released, my results weren’t posted online. They had been flagged.
A moment later, I got a text from the State Board of Education. I read it, and a sob escaped my lips. I clapped a hand over my mou-
th, my whole body shaking.
I was first in the state. My score was 713. All the work, all the sacrifices… it had all been worth it. Every step I took had counted.
After my score was announced, my parents suddenly started calling again.
I watched them on the local news, beaming, bragging to reporters about their brilliant parenting strategies and how they had rais-
ed a state champion.
Maya stood beside me, hands on her hips, fuming. “They have some nerve. Have they ever done a single thing for you?”
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Chapter 2
I just stared silently at the television.
10:58
Eventually, a reporter found me. I kept a calm, pleasant smile on my face as I told my story. A cheating father, a mother who favor-
ed my brother, a broken home.
And a girl who refused to give up.
In the age of social media, my interview went viral. People expressed their sympathy, but more than that, their admiration for my
strength.
After that, I got a new phone number. With the university’s full scholarship and the academic awards I’d won, I had more than eno-
ugh money to cover my living expenses for the next four years.
