Chapter 3

That same night after Rachel left, Mom called.

"Em, have you thought about what your sister said?"

"Mom, I only heard about it less than three hours ago."

"What's there to think about? Your sister's right. Mom and Dad spent 60,000 dollars putting her through school. You're family..."

"Mom."

"Yeah?"

"I didn't spend a single cent of that 60,000."

It went quiet on the other end for two seconds.

"You didn't spend it, but you're still part of this family. Whoever the family's money was spent on, it was still spent on the family..."

"Then when I wanted to go to high school back then, why didn't you say, 'It doesn't matter who the family's money is spent on'?"

Another stretch of silence.

"Things were hard for the family then..."

"Rachel's grad school cost 7,000 dollars a year, and the family could afford that. High school for me would've only cost a couple thousand a year, and suddenly the family couldn't afford it. Mom, how exactly did you do that math?"

"How is that the same thing? Your sister got good grades!"

I gripped my phone and took a deep breath.

That was the logic in this family. Rachel had good grades, so she was worth investing in. Mine were "not good enough," so I wasn't.

But grades were never the real issue.

The real issue was that this family had already decided from the start that only one child would be put through school.

And that child was never going to be me.

When Rachel was in high school, tuition plus all her extra tutoring ran at least 5,000 dollars a year. Back then, nobody ever said the family couldn't afford it.

When Rachel got into the Ivy League, Mom booked three tables and invited every relative. Dad drank a good amount and, red-faced, kept saying, "Our family is finally sending a kid to college!"

And when it was my turn?

"We can't afford to put two kids through school."

"Your grades aren't even that good."

"It'd be better if you start earning money earlier."

Spending 60,000 dollars on Rachel's education was called an investment.

Spending a couple thousand on my high school education was called a waste.

David sat beside me and listened to the whole call.

After I hung up, he asked, "Back then, did you really quit school because you wanted to?"

"What do you think?"

He didn't say anything.

"I was top fifteen in my class back then," I said. "One month before the exam, my mom told me not to go anymore."

David's expression changed.

"Did your sister know too?"

"She said Mom told her that I just didn't want to study anymore."

"Do you believe her?"

I thought about it.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"How does it not matter?"

"Because whether she knew the truth or not, she's still the one standing here with a piece of paper asking me for 30,000 dollars."

I picked up the "agreement" from the coffee table and read it again.

It was all there in black and white.

"Family Education Cost Sharing Agreement."

Party A: Rachel Lane.

Party B: Emily Lane.

Amount: 30,000 dollars.

At the bottom, there was even a line in smaller print: "Agreed upon through family discussion."

Agreed upon through family discussion.

Who discussed it with whom?

Did anybody discuss it with me?

"Honey." David looked at me. "We can't give them this money."

"I know."

"Then what are you going to do?"

I folded the paper and put it into a drawer.

"No rush."

Because I knew this was only the beginning.