Chapter 4

Lauren's POV

My throat felt tight. There was so much I wanted to say. Then, all at once, it didn't seem worth saying anymore.

I turned, ran toward the neighborhood dumpsters, and spent the entire night digging through trash.

By dawn, my hands were slick with foul-smelling sludge, and grime had worked its way beneath my fingernails.

At first light, I finally found the culture dishes. They were buried beneath a pile of rotting banana peels.

When I stumbled back home, reeking of garbage, I ran into Mom on her way to the bathroom.

She immediately pressed a finger to her lips. "Shh. Your sister just fell asleep. Just put up with it tonight. Don't shower until tomorrow."

As she spoke, she walked over and unplugged the water heater. Then she wrinkled her nose. "And honestly, you smell awful. Go air yourself out before you come back inside."

I had no choice but to sit there through the night. Only after everyone else was awake did I finally get a chance to shower. I'd barely worked the shampoo into my hair when the hot water suddenly died.

A blast of icy water poured over me, making me shiver. Instinctively, I called out, "Mom? Dad? I think the power's out!"

I called a few more times. No one answered.

I grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around myself before stepping out of the bathroom. That was when I realized the electricity was out throughout the house.

Mom, Dad, Jake, and Emily were all gone.

I rinsed off as best I could with freezing water and headed outside. I ran into the building manager at the entrance.

She frowned when she noticed the shampoo still clinging to my hair. "The utility company scheduled a power outage for the whole neighborhood today—from eight this morning until five this afternoon. Didn't your family tell you?"

I forced a smile and mumbled some excuse. The moment I turned away, I had to blink back tears.

When I unlocked my phone, Emily had posted on Instagram. They were all at a karaoke lounge. Mom stood smiling with a microphone in her hand; Dad was opening a bottle of wine; Jake was picking songs; and Patrick sat beside Emily, peeling an orange for her.

The caption read, "Family day. My favorite people, all in one place."

I stared at the post for a long time. A hollow ache spread through my chest.

Then I remembered the winter I was thirteen. A fire broke out in the middle of the night. I woke up choking on smoke. By then, I could barely see through anything.

Somewhere in the haze, I heard my parents shouting.

"Hurry! Get Emily out first!"

By the time the firefighters pulled me from the house, I was barely alive.

Dad was holding Emily, wrapped safely in a blanket. Mom clutched Emily's wooden craft project against her chest.

As it turned out, the first time they went back inside, they rescued Emily. The second time, they went back for Emily's craft project.

Not once did they remember I was still in there.

When I finally made it outside, Mom burst into tears the moment she saw me. "What took you so long? Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

Dad walked over and slapped me across the face. "Why didn't you run? Were you trying to make us worry?"

The memory broke something inside me. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a message from Mr. Carter. "Lauren, today's the day. If everything's set, be at Easton Airport by 5:00 pm sharp."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and replied, "I'll be there."

At that moment, a message from Mom popped up. "Lauren, Emily didn't mean to throw your things away. I'll apologize on her behalf. It's the last day of break. I want to buy you some clothes. Meet me at the mall in a bit."

A second later, she sent me a link to the mall's shopping app. There was a buy-one-get-one-free promotion.

That was when I understood. She didn't want to buy me clothes. She wanted to get something for free.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Maybe that was for the best. I had nothing left to stay for. I left the family group chat and blocked every last one of them.

Finally, I got into a cab bound for the airport and didn't look back.