My Family Voted Me Out

Synopsis

My family was all about democracy. Every decision was made by a family vote. My parents, my brother, Alex Lane, and my sister, Sophie Lane, each had a vote. I had one too. But with four against one, I never won. Back in my tenth grade, Alex wanted a new computer. The vote was four to one. In the end, he used the money I'd spent three years saving up for tutoring classes. When it was time to fill out college applications, I got an early acceptance to Summit University. But Sophie cried, saying she didn't want to be too far from me. So the whole family held another vote. Dad pressed my application form down on the table. "Majority rules. You're going to a local college." I said, "I worked my ass off to get into Summit University." Mom frowned. "Why do you always have to be so stubborn? Summit University is so far away. If you get sick, who's going to look after you?" Later, when Alex was short on cash for his startup, Dad waved my acceptance letter in my face and announced, "Your tuition money will go to Alex first. He needs it more right now." Sophie hooked her arm through mine, smiling brightly. "We all raised our hands and voted, so don't sulk about it, okay?" I stared at the acceptance letter they'd voted on, and suddenly, it all seemed kind of ridiculous. It turned out that their version of democracy meant the four of them officially deciding what I had to give up. That night, I stopped fighting. Instead, I quietly went online and filled out the Northwest Desert Confidential Research Application Form. From then on, I was the only one who got to vote for myself.