“Yeah.”
He looked around. “It’s okay, good for
studying.”
Of course, he had to be a jerk.
As he left, he pulled a stack of tests from his
bag and threw them at me. “Study hard, don’t
waste this nice place.”
He rode off.
I felt warm, and my nose started to sting.
Except for my family, everyone was trying to
help me.
Stanley started coming to school every day,
く
bringing me soup and food.
Sometimes, he’d talk to the teachers about
- me.
But every time they talked, they’d look at me with pity.
I was good at English, and the teacher always tried to say nice things about me to the other teachers.
One night, she called me to the office. Stanley was there.
She asked him a few questions about me, but he looked embarrassed.
L
“This is your daughter, and you don’t know
anything about her?” She opened the
lunchbox. “Even I know Jessica is allergic to
celery.”
Stanley quickly closed the lunchbox, looking
sad.
“Talk to your dad,” she said. “He says you
blocked him.”
The teacher always tried to make peace
between us, telling me not to hold grudges.
This time, she just shook her head and left.
“Can you stop bothering me?” I asked. “Your
L
apologies are worthless and annoying. If you
think a few meals can fix what you did, I don’t
know what to say.”
He looked at me. “You look more and more
like your mom.”
“Don’t mention her.”
I’d been wondering why he was doing this.
Today, I figured it out.
“I heard Uncle kicked you out, so you want me to come back so he’ll pay for you again, right?”
く
The day after I left, Uncle had gone to the
landlord and kicked Stanley and Carrie out.
Now, they were crammed into a small room
far from school.
That’s why Carrie was always late.
He looked tired and his suit was dirty. They
were suffering.
“Is that what you think of me?” He looked hurt. “I didn’t know you hated me so much. I went to your room, and you didn’t take anything I gave you. I realized what I did
wrong. You’re the only family I have left.”
L
He covered his face and cried.
He had never cried before. Usually, he’d say
“sorry“, and I’d imagine a happy family.
But, I was done hoping.
“Leave me alone. Your daughter is Carrie, I
have nothing to do with you. If you really feel
bad, don’t bother me.”
I turned and walked away.
The teacher was standing at the door. She
patted my shoulder. “Go study.”
After that day, Stanley didn’t come back, but
<
Aller tal uay, olamity ulun L COITIE Naun, nul
money was added to my account every week.
Carrie was being ignored.
CO
6
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A lot of students heard me yelling at Stanley,
so the rumors about Carrie being the
daughter of the mistress who killed my mom
and drove me away were spreading.
Carrie didn’t explain.
She used to hang out with a few girls, now
she was alone.
She didn’t seem to care.
く
I understood the difference between us. I said
I liked being alone, but I wanted friends, I
wanted to be loved.
Carrie seemed weak, but she was tough. She
didn’t need friends.
But, it didn’t matter to me anymore.
I was doing better in school.
The teacher said if I did well, I could get into
a decent state school.
I was too scared to ask Jason for help, so I
studied alone.
L
He came over to tease me and help me.
The night before the test, Jason came to see
- me.
“Good luck.”
He knocked on my door, said that, and rode
away.
“You just came to say that?”
