Chapter 2
By 1 AM, the pain was eating me alive. I couldn’t sleep.
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and dragged myself to Mom’s nightstand, hoping to find some Advil or something.
She always kept her medicine stash in the top drawer, but tonight I found something else shoved in the back-a leather journal with yellowed edges that looked like it had been there for years. Mom’s handwriting covered every page.
[Jacob smiled at me today-his little eyes just sparkled. God, he’s absolutely precious.]
[Jacob’s fever spiked to 103 again. David and I stayed up all night watching him. I thought my heart would stop…)
rage after page, entry after entry. All Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. Like I didn’t even exist.
I kept flipping until I finally found my name buried near the end.
Jacob’s finally learning to fight for what he wants, but he’s three years younger than Emma. He can’t compete with her yet. Sometimes I just want to slap that selfish little brat.]
Whatever I told Jacob today that Daddy and Mommy will make it up to him behind the scenes. Let Emma have her toys and snacks-what’s a few dollars? She
treats, feels guilty enough to back off, and Jacob gets the real prizes later. Best deal ever.]
ournal back in the drawer, my whole body shaking like I was freezing to death.
was the truth. The real fucking truth.
All those years of “Emma gets the first slice” and “Emma picks the movie”-it wasn’t love.
I was manipulation.
rom day one, Mom and Dad had been playing this sick game.
hrow me a few scraps-some birthday cake, a couple toys, the bigger bedroom-and in return, Jacob got the house, the money, and their actual love.
he parents I’d adored my entire life? They didn’t even like me?!
wave of nausea crashed over me so hard I thought I might pass out. I bolted to the bathroom just as my stomach decided to turn itself inside out, dry-heaving ntil I collapsed on the cold tile floor.
hat’s when Jacob appeared in the doorway, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.
jesus. Em. What’d you do, eat a whole pizza at midnight?”
wiped the tears and snot from my face, my voice barely a whisper. “Stomach cramps.”
awer?”
Waichit
e high maintenance.” He rolled his eyes but grabbed his jacket from the door. “Fine, I’ll make a pharmacy run. But you owe me fifty bucks for this
After he left, I pulled myself off the bathroom floor and noticed his phone buzzing on the kitchen counter. The screen lit up with notifications from a group
hat.
The Mitchell Fam”- three members.
Guess who wasn’t invited to the family group chat?
Mom: [Son! Just finished up here. Flying home in two days. Got you that limited edition figure you wanted-last one in stock! Cost me a fortune lol.]
Mom: [Just hide it in your dorm room when you get back to school. Don’t tell Emma-she was obsessing over that thing like three months ago.]
I let out this bitter laugh and turned off the screen.
15:01
From ‘Beloved Dave
Chapter 2
Of course. Of fucking course.
You know what? I didn’t care anymore.
When you’re dying, nothing else really matters, does it?
