Even if they had to enroll me just for appearances, it was better than me lazing around at home playing video games all day.
Lily listened obediently from the side, then said with a worried expression, “But if sister has never been to school, will she be able to keep up?”
Mrs. Blackwell looked hesitant, but Mr. Blackwell’s face was set. “At her age, she has to go into senior year. Does she want to be held back? After
the SATs, we’ll just ship her off to some university abroad to get a degree. At least it’ll look good on paper.”
They made this decision right in front of me, without a single thought to asking my opinion.
Ryan remained silent the entire time, his brow furrowed as he glanced at me. He looked like he wanted to say something, but ultimately held his
tongue.
Mr. Blackwell made the final call. “I happen to have a bit of sway with Principal Albright at Northwood. Asking him to take on one more student
shouldn’t be a problem.”
He looked over and saw me still fiddling with my phone. A flicker of disgust and regret crossed his face. Maybe they shouldn’t have bothered bring-
ing this daughter back at all.
I was in the middle of a text conversation.
M: [I’m in.]
Old Man Al: [In for what?]
Old Man Al: [You’re coming to Northwood?!]
Old Man At: [You’re finally willing to move off that sofa?!]
