few months before everything fell apart. We were both smiling, the sun in our eyes. She had her arm around my shoulder in a friendly, encourag

t of my single-bulb lamp, it just fel

inary academic award. "You have a brilliant mind, Liam. D

't enough were my own family. They didn't value my mind, they

. It was a symbolic act. I had to erase every part of my old life, every weakness, every sentimental attachment. I couldn't a

ding next to Noah in a new suit they probably bought with the money they saved from my stolen scholarship. They would be at a

n their wonderful, successful son. No one would ask about me. I was the inconvenient, ungrateful older son who had disappeared. They h

d more important things to do. I got up from my lumpy mattress and went b

n my door. He was a gruff, overwei

ding out a greasy receiver. The buildin

Who could possibly

know anyone

ortant. Said her

ind me? A cold dread filled m

me the phone. I took i

ell

ixture of relief and worry. "I' ve been calling every cheap

this number?" I a

, resourceful. "Liam, what' s going on? Why did you disappea

ir story. The troubled son. It painted them as concerned,

d, the lie tasting l

kindness now mixed with frustration. "And what about the scholarship? I talked to the adm

ication essays, her genuine belief in me. In my past life, I would have broken down, I

this

d, my voice cold and distant. "

the other end of the line. I co

oice softening slightly agai

nd walked back to my room, my heart a heavy stone in my chest. I sat on my bed, the che

would only complicate things. It would bring unwanted at

with all the other emotions I couldn't afford to feel. I turned back

now. The only thing th

er my door. It was from the university. My

ssed. However, due to a clerical error, a final tuition deposit I had paid mo

f the life I had been forced to abandon. My parents had never bothered to get this money back. They probabl

yelled from the hallway. "Whe

old. It was my