Chapter 4
That afternoon, the travel group chat was blowing up with messages.
Mom sent over a few booking pages.
She wrote: [Summer, the hotel we wanted is fully booked. Can you check if there's anything similar nearby?]
Dad sent a voice message. "Didn't you make an itinerary before? Drop it in the chat."
Claire said, [Summer, I've been feeling really down these past few days.
[If we stay too far away, it'll be exhausting to commute every day.
[Can you help us out?]
Finally, Evan spoke up, too.
Evan: [Send me the original guide.
[Don't let all that work go to waste.]
None of them bothered to ask if I was still coming.
To them, I could back out of the trip, but there was no way I could get back all the effort I'd put in.
I spent half a month putting that guide together.
I checked which hotels were close to the airport and which roads were always jammed.
I made sure Dad wouldn't have to walk too much because of his bad back, and Mom wouldn't eat spicy food. Claire got carsick, so I had to plan separate routes for the long drives.
I even marked down which coffee shop Evan liked on the route.
The shared file showed four people were viewing it simultaneously.
I clicked "Stop Sharing."
The chat went quiet for a few seconds.
Mom asked, [Why can't I open the file anymore?]
I sent over the travel platform's customer service number.
[You can contact customer service,] I replied.
Dad called me right away.
He demanded, "Summer, you did that on purpose, didn't you?
"The hotel's fully booked, and the prices have shot up. You could've fixed it with a few taps, but you let the whole family stress out?"
I told him, "The itinerary I made was for my own trip.
"Since I'm not going anymore, I'm not offering it either."
"Didn't you use the family computer to make that guide? Didn't you eat at home while you were researching?" Dad shot back.
I held my phone, silent.
Dad kept going. "If you don't want to go, it's fine. Don't hold everyone else up."
I hung up.
A few minutes later, Grace, Mom's sister, texted me.
Grace: [Summer, I heard you canceled the trip because Claire came along?
[She just went through a breakup. As her sister, you should be more understanding.
[Your parents raised you, and this is the first time they've asked you to chip in. Making such a fuss isn't proper.]
Mom had already told the relatives her version of the story.
She didn't mention the rigged draw the family had been doing for the past ten years.
She didn't tell them that every slip in the envelopes read, [Stay.]
She didn't talk about Evan secretly slipping a piece of paper into Claire's sleeve.
In her version, a calculating girl canceled the whole family's trip because her younger sister, who'd gone through a breakup, decided to join at the last minute.
I typed out a few lines to explain, but then deleted them all.
None of the relatives bothered to ask what was really going on with me.
They told me to be understanding.
*****
That night, Mom booked more expensive tickets.
The hotel was way farther from where we originally planned, and the trip got cut short by two days.
She sent a screenshot of the payment in the travel group chat.
[We had to spend over 2,300 dollars extra,] she complained. [That was money we didn't have to waste.]
Claire sent a hugging emoji.
Evan said, [I'll cover half the extra cost.]
Dad sent: [We should all be more understanding.]
I left the chat.
The next day, they set off as planned.
Claire posted a group photo of the four of them online.
Mom and Dad were in the middle.
Claire hooked her arm around Mom's.
Evan was standing next to Dad.
The four of them fit right into the spot that used to be mine.
Claire wrote: [Starting over.]
Evan messaged me privately. [Wait for me to get back. We need to talk.]
I didn't reply.
I called the wedding planner. "I'm canceling the wedding," I said.
They told me some of the deposit couldn't be refunded.
"That's okay," I replied.
After that, I contacted the venue, the photographer, and the officiant.
I ended up losing almost 7,000 dollars in deposits, but I still called off the whole thing.
That afternoon, I went to the apartment Evan and I were supposed to live in after the wedding.
He'd bought it after we got engaged.
When we were furnishing the place, I paid for some of the furniture and appliances.
I packed all my clothes, books, and personal stuff and moved them out.
I made a list of everything we'd bought together, matched to the payment records.
I took away everything that belonged to me and left behind everything that was his.
Finally, I sent out a notice to both our families and friends in a group chat.
I wrote: [Letting everyone know: The engagement between Evan and me is canceled, and the wedding is off. We're sorting out the costs. Thanks for caring.]
Less than ten minutes later, Mom dropped a long message in the chat.
Mom: "Summer's having a mood. Don't take it too seriously.
[Claire broke up with her boyfriend and decided to join the trip last minute, and now Summer's canceling the whole wedding because of that.
[She's always been a bit hardheaded since she was little. We'll talk some sense into her when we get back.]
Linda, Mom's brother's wife, replied, [Marriage is a big deal, Summer. Don't be so impulsive.]
Mark Brown, one of my cousins, said, [You two should cut each other some slack. No need to throw away your own happiness over this.]
Grace sent me a voice message. "You're almost thirty. Do you think finding someone new is gonna be easy after breaking off the engagement?
"Evan has bent over backwards for your family. What more do you want?"
I muted the chat.
Then I dragged my last suitcase out and closed the door to the apartment.