Time to Spread My Wings

Mom shot me a look and came up with a clumsy excuse. "Jilly wouldn't stop asking for this necklace, so I gave it to her. You're the older sister.

"Just let her have it, okay? Don't make it a bigger deal than it is."

"Whatever. Hand out your stuff to whoever you want," I replied flatly.

It wasn't the first time I'd heard such words. If Jillian wanted something, I was expected to hand it over. By now, it was practically second nature.

I guessed they thought I'd put up a fight because the whole room seemed shocked at how easily I gave in.

But Jillian said, "Wanda, I know I wasn't supposed to take your stuff, but I loved it so much.

"You've got everything in this house. Can't I just keep this one little necklace? You don't mind, do you?"

Dad sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. "You're so thoughtful that it breaks my heart. Haven't we made it clear? You're our only real daughter."

Jillian wiped her tears, looking so pathetic that Mom and Dad fell for it even harder. The three of them were so wrapped up in their little moment that nobody even remembered I was there.

It was like they'd all forgotten Jillian was just my replacement—some orphan they picked up to make themselves feel better after losing me.

For 18 years, while I was gone, Mom and Dad had dumped all the love that should've been mine straight into her lap.

The second Jillian huffed, they'd tense up. If she started crying, it was like their whole world was about to fall apart.

The night I came home, Jillian couldn't take the truth. She broke down sobbing, and before anyone could stop her, she was up on the roof's ledge.

"Nobody wants me! I'm just some orphan nobody cares about! Let me die! Then Mom, Dad, and Wanda can be happy together forever!" she screamed, her voice torn apart with pain.

They freaked out, scrambling to talk her into coming down. After that, they watched her like hawks, never giving her a second alone.

Mom and Dad kept tempting Jillian with fruits and snacks to get her to eat, but nobody even looked at me; even though I was so hungry, I felt lightheaded.

Then, one day, they offhandedly mentioned going on a camping trip in the middle of nowhere and decided to bring me.

I was so surprised by the sudden attention that I went along, only for all three of them to ditch me there without a word.

I made it through a whole week in the wilderness with no way to call for help before I finally dragged myself back home, filthy, starving, and nearly frozen.

Mom and Dad were sitting there, watching TV with Jillian. They didn't even look at me.

"We just wanted to teach you a lesson, to make you realize this family is Jilly's now. She's been ours for 18 years.

"You could never measure up to what she means to us. From now on, you let her have her way in everything. No fighting her on it. Do you get it?"

I got it. That day, I realized I didn't have a home anymore.

…

In the morning, after I packed my luggage and came downstairs, Jillian walked up to me, holding a bowl of creamy mushroom soup. She beamed at me.

"Wanda, try the breakfast I made for you."

I looked at her fake grin, didn't say a word, and moved past her into the kitchen. Suddenly, she slipped, and the scalding soup dumped all over her.

Mom and Dad came running when they heard the commotion. Their hearts shattered at the sight of the bright, angry burns on her hands.

"We have a maid to handle the cooking! You've always been hopeless with fire. What were you thinking, messing with the stove?"

Jillian hung her head. She stayed quiet for a long moment before finally glancing up at me.

"Wanda texted me last night and demanded I cook for her. I didn't want to make her mad, so I couldn't refuse. I woke up early this morning to prepare everything. I guess I'm just hopelessly clumsy."

My heart sank. Before I could even explain, Dad charged over and hit me square across the face.

"Wanda, is this how you push Jilly around when no one's looking? She lost her mom and dad when she was little, spent years starving and shivering, and never had anything good.

"You should be bending over backward to make it up to her! You rude bastard! You're rotten to the bone!"

Jillian played up her act, fake-begging Mom and Dad. "Please go easy on Wanda. So what if she's nasty to me? I'll put up with it as long as I can stay with you."

By then, they'd already decided I was the problem, so why bother fighting it? I just walked off to the kitchen to fix myself some breakfast.

Dad was on the verge of exploding when Harvey Schumer suddenly appeared at the door. Harvey was my childhood sweetheart—the guy I'd been promised to since we were kids—and we'd always been tight.

But he scowled as soon as he spotted the bandage on Jillian's fingers. "Wanda, did you hurt Jilly again?"

Jillian had pulled this wounded act more than once. Every time, she'd go running to him, Mom, and Dad, crying. Harvey was so used to it by now that anytime she got hurt, he just assumed it was me.

"It wasn't me. She burned herself," I muttered.

Harvey didn't buy a word. "You definitely told her to cook, and that's how this mess started! Cut the crap. Do you really think I don't have you figured out?

"Playing dumb like some harmless bookworm when the truth is you're just an ungrateful snake! The Swains were nice enough to take you in, so stop driving a wedge between Jilly and us!"

He patched up Jillian's hand, then pulled his fancy car up to the door just to drive her to work. Even Mom and Dad got in on it, trailing behind in their own car like some kind of worried escort.

Meanwhile, I just went to the kitchen and ate breakfast alone in the empty house.

…

The day before I left, I went to an academic conference with my advisor, Andrew Faucher. Out of nowhere, I spotted Mom and Dad there with Jillian. Harvey was by Jillian's side, his arm snug around her waist.

Dad introduced Jillian to the crowd at the venue, brimming with pride. "This is my darling daughter. She's unbelievably brilliant. She started her own tech company, and it's going public any day now."

The moment the words left his mouth, the room erupted with praise, everyone gushing over how incredible Jillian was doing.

Someone piped up, "I heard you actually found that missing kid from way back. How come you didn't bring her along today?"

Dad's face stiffened. "Who told you that? That's complete nonsense."

Mom flashed a smile and threw an arm around Jillian's shoulders, brushing it off. "We've only ever had one daughter. Did another one just pop out of nowhere?

"It must've been a relative visiting or something. You know how people get the wrong idea all the time."

They fought to erase me like I was some dirty secret like admitting I existed would ruin them. I stepped forward, wine glass in hand.

My family had been full of laughs and easy chatter, but they went dead silent when they saw me.